The Weapon
by anilag
Summary: Bella, living an ordinary life, comes to find out that her life is far from ordinary when she is kidnapped by an agency claiming to be helping her.  But are they? Kinda human, kinda not.
1. Prologue

Hello, this is my first fanfic and while I love reading them, I have decided to try my hand at one. Please be gentle in your reviews. I appreciate constructive criticism but not slams. Part of this story is dark and deals with difficult issues, so if you can't stomach it, find a fluff story to read. That said, thank you for continuing for those that do!

Oh, and I would also like to thank the ladies at Babycenter who encouraged me to do this.

Disclaimer on profile.

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The Weapon

**Sci-Fi/Drama/Comedy**

**Bella, Jasper, Angela, 22**

**Edward, Alice, 21**

**Emmett, Rose, Jake, 20**

**Seth, 19**

**Phil, 27**

**Prologue**

**May 18th, 2008**

It was a muggy Tuesday night here in the tiny ass town of Forks, Washington and we were playing at a dive for the third time. You know, the kind that has a musty smell but you don't care because you're trying to make a name for yourself? Yeah, that kind. The hot stage lights were making us sweat and the dive didn't have what I'd call "air conditioning." Either the owner is too cheap or had never heard of the invention. It's a toss-up.

There were lit up signs for the different beer brands in the front window and a flashing "Open" sign (it's not flashing by choice, however) that makes it look like this is a strip joint. Luckily this is Forks and the neighborhood isn't as trashy as this dive would be in if it were in a bigger city. Although we'd probably earn more.

Angela was playing on the keyboard, Seth the bass and Sir-I-Get-Laid-For-My-Looks, our drummer Phil. I do vocals and sometimes play guitar. Seth and Angela do back-up vocals.

Oh yeah, my name is Bella. Sometimes, I'm not always focused.

In case you're wondering, let me tell you about us:

I have on a gray grunge t-shirt that is long enough to pass for a dress with textured tights and high black boots that scream _fuck me_ yet I am 100% virgin. I finished my look with a muffler. For those of you who don't know, it's a fucking scrappy looking scarf. I'm 5'2" and I have brown eyes and brown hair, although I've streaked it with, you guessed it, gray streaks. It works for me. I like it.

Angela is wild but more modestly dressed. She's taller than me, 5'5" and she's got on an oversized t-shirt with a long black goth skirt and a big beanie. She's Asian and has long black hair and wicked brown eyes that sometimes turn black if she's pissed. It's freaky but I try not to go anywhere near her when she's mad. It's just such a bad idea.

Phil, mister blue eyes and dirty blonde hair with a goatee, is wearing some big brand name black wifebeater (is Hanes seriously not good enough?), boot cut jeans with doc martins. I think he tries to make up for being average looking. I don't see anything wrong with being average but whatever. He's the only one of us that wears different jewelry every night we play somewhere, though I have no idea how he affords his lifestyle. I think he pays more attention to his looks than all of us put together. I'll never understand him. If he weren't such a decent drummer, I'd have kicked him out a long time ago. Not that the band is all that old. We've been together for about a year and a half.

Seth is wearing a black t-shirt with the cure logo, tight jeans and combat boots. He's got these big brown eyes and strangely long eyelashes (it's actually hard not to notice or stare). He's got a baby face and is desperately trying to grow facial hair but is miserably failing at it, poor kid. He's pretty tall, too: 6'7". I like tall guys but not ones that look like they pump steroids (which, he doesn't – as far as I know). Exactly how much milk did he fucking drink during puberty season? The reason I know everyone's height is because it's a talent of mine. I don't know how it came to be, I just like measuring things.

This is actually our signature "look." Mostly because we're so broke that's basically all any of us have except Ang. I still live with my dad – Charlie – because there's no way I could afford a place of my own. Angela keeps telling me she can cover us if I moved in with her but I'd feel weird living off of her, you know? Her parents died and she received a bunch of money from their life insurance. She sold the house and is fairly well off but I'm no moocher. I crash at her place often enough as it is. She always tries to guilt me saying some shit about being there for her in her time of need or whatever. I know she doesn't care about the money and only needs it to live off on. I know her well enough that if she didn't absolutely, 100% need it to live off on, she would throw it away or donate it to some charity.

We only make $150 from the owner plus tips. Tips have been low to none lately. I think we're a fairly decent band. We definitely don't suck but we could probably use some musical/vocal guidance and more business sense. None of us, excluding myself, are doing anything to book more shows and help us move forward. It sucks sometimes but I don't have a job outside of the band so I'm ok with it. I've found I do like writing music. We don't play original music all too often since I'd rather use my music for a better audience. This dive definitely doesn't deserve it but I want to practice the new music. But, it would be nice to eventually write full time for other musicians. Ah, the dreams I have. But, really, I can't say I'm qualified for any "real" job that I can earn a decent paycheck at. If this band thing doesn't work out, I'll be the latest employee of the month at the local grocery store for my excellent cashiering and customer service skills.

There aren't a lot of people here tonight. Some creepy guys sat in the corner at one of the darker booths and a couple making out in another a few feet away. There are also a couple of middle aged men at the bar who probably should be at home with their families but are in such a mid-life crisis that this is their way of acting out. Stupid, much?

The bartender, Jake, was winking at me, as usual. I wish he'd finally take a fucking hint. Actually, let me take that back. I've never hinted. I've told him to his face that I'll never date him. He just doesn't interest me in the least bit and I would feel bad for leading him on, you know? I feel bad enough for him because he has to listen to all the drunks spew their garbage in all kinds of volumes. It would really suck to do his job. But I don't feel bad for too long, because he is such an ass and keeps thinking he can lay me. Fuck that.

He has a bet going on with the cook, Paul, to see how long it'll take. A little birdie named Seth told me. He just sold them the fuck out. I think Seth may have a tiny crush on me although I would never date him because 1) I think of him as my little brother and 2) I would never date a bandmate. It would cause huge problems if we didn't work out. I'm kind of a black and white person when it comes to my personality and it's absolutely ironic I have gray streaks. Anyways, if I stopped dating someone, there was a really good fucking reason for it.

I casually dated a little. One guy, Tyler, was great at first but then started verbally abusing me. Got rid of him pretty fast. Next guy, Eric, in college, cheated when he learned I wasn't looking for an M.R.S. degree to be barefoot & pregnant for him. Who knew such people still existed? Another guy, I don't even remember his name, we woke up at Angela's and I'm not sure what happened but he said nothing did. That wasn't a high point in my life. Anyway, you can see I haven't had the greatest luck with men.

What's strange is that Seth and Angela hooked up one night after getting stupid drunk and fucked. They don't talk about it and there seems to be no weirdness between them. I'd like to think they don't remember it. I, cue a shudder, remember seeing them making out. I had to walk away; it was too strange to watch. And creepy. This is why I never have more than one drink per night. I just know I'll end up drunk and pregnant with some one night stand's mentally deficiant baby because I was drinking at conception. I'm such a positive person, aren't I?

On this particular Tuesday night, we were finishing off a ballad I wrote.

_Lost, lost  
I need to find you  
But I can't – it's too much  
I need to find me first_

_Look at me, I'm no one  
special…special…  
But I try and find you though I'm know I'm not ready  
I know I'm just not….ready_

All of a sudden, I heard a scream from the make-out girl, seeing as she's the only other girl here besides Ang. Since it was fairly dark from the stage, we couldn't see why, exactly, she was screaming.

After about half a minute, we saw.

The lights came on and the creepy guys from the corner booth were moving closer to the stage. What the fuck? Did the dive owner forget to pay the mafia and they're collecting from us or something? Ok, it's a stretch but I'm completely clueless and confused. That was the best guess I could come up with. You try it!

Phil cowered behind his stupid drums, probably not wanting to break his I'm-a-lover-not-a-fighter bullshit mantra. Ang stopped playing and looked wide-eyed at Seth, who jumped off and started fighting, martial arts style, with one of the creepy guys. When he did learn martial arts? I wonder if he's doing aikido, tae kwon do or kung fu. How would I tell the difference?

Focus, Bella!

I saw them breaking chairs, jumping on tables and, let me tell you, it would've been quite the show had I not been so scared and almost peed in my pants. I feel like I'm in a Steven Seagal movie. They were destroying pretty much everything! I heard a lot of screaming at this point and suddenly realized it was coming from me. Shit, seriously! What the fuck?

"What the fuck is going on?" I screamed.


	2. Chapter 1: A Little Background Info

**Disclaimer on profile.**

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Chapter 1: A little background information

Nobody called out to stop the fight and explain. I'm not sure why I thought someone would. They didn't even turn their heads to even acknowledge I said anything. Assholes.

Jake joined in the fight and so did Paul. They were pretty strong fighters for a bartender and a line cook that couldn't cook to save his life other than a few appetizers. Really, that's no joke. I never could figure out how he got his job and _stayed_ employed. He must know the cheap ass owner, Billy.

Seriously, I should get to know these guys because I clearly don't know jack shit about them. I just thought Seth was a nice college student trying to see if his dream could come true and he could dump his studies. I think it's more so because he sucked at school and his grades were shit. But, that's just a theory because technically, I was never meant to see his grade transcript on his desk in full open view.

Seth went to an all-boy's school while he was growing up. I met Seth at a bar. He gave me some cheesy pickup line about me running around in his head because the boy clearly has no idea how to act around women and is very naive. I was pretty close to smacking him upside the head when he apologized. We sat down and had a nice conversation. He had told me previously his father died and his mother married some deadbeat. He has a sister named Leah who could give a rat's ass about anyone but herself. She's in love with some dipstick in Canada. He told me he's in school to figure out what he wants to do but thinks he'll be a mechanic if he doesn't figure it out soon. I learned he played music and the rest is history.

Ang and I know each other from childhood. She is a few months older than me (5 to be exact) but we were in the same grade. She wants to get out of Forks just as bad as I do. Yep, Forks is a tiny hole in the wall town that maybe you've driven through but didn't really know it. It's _that_ small.

Phil is actually my step-dad. Weird, huh? My mom/surrogate, Renee, had me when she was 18 and married Phil shortly after she bailed on Charlie, my dad, when I was a few months old, citing she wasn't responsible enough to care for a child even though she was clearly fine carrying one to full term. I grew up with Charlie and only met her when I was 13. She asked me to come live with her by the time I turned 14. I jumped at the chance to get to know my mother and live in a nice, warm place. I moved to Phoenix without a second thought.

It turns out, however, I should've thought it through. Apparently mom was an addict and I was too young to understand the signs. Yeah, you heard me. WAS. She overdosed and Phil had nowhere to go. I ended up to be all he had left which is all kinds of fucked up and wrong. From what I have been able to tell, he's fairly useless in so many ways. So, we went back to Forks. He got a job at the diner as a head cook, rented a studio apartment and I went back to living with Charlie because, by that time, I was 16.

Charlie is Fork's very own Chief of Police but he really couldn't identify all that well with raising a girl, so I was on my own a lot. I know my dad loves me but has a hard time expressing it. I'm not really a touchy-feely person anyways. Sometimes, though, it would be nice to hear a fatherly declaration of love.

I'm getting off track. Let's see. Oh right, Angela. She was the only friend I could ever count on. I can honestly say that we would do anything for each other. She has listened to every stupid thing I have ever said and ranted about. We studied together and shared secrets about leaving. Angela started off really, really quiet but then blossomed into the girl she is now. Totally wild but very protective of us. I couldn't imagine being close friends with anyone else since I've always found most people to be superficial and somewhat bipolar in high school.

Out of all of us, she's had to survive a difficult childhood and that can really scar a person. I don't really know all the details but from what I've seen, her so-called 'parents' were verbally and physically abusive.

_Flashback_

_We were 11 years old at the time. I saw her walking to school instead of taking the bus. It seemed strange to me because she lived at least a few miles away and she was walking so slowly; it looked like she was in pain. Her jeans were torn slightly and her hair looked like it had been pulled out of her barrettes._

_I asked her, "What's wrong? Why can't you walk normally?" I didn't ask about her appearance because I knew that would make her even more sad._

_I then noticed some blood dripping down her leg because of the torn jeans and probably hadn't noticed it. My eyes widened and I pointed at it. "Angela, you're bleeding! You need some help!"_

"_Shhh, don't talk so loud. I'm fine, see? It's just a little blood. I tripped on the sidewalk over there."_

_She gave me a pained look that told me nothing and yet everything. I wanted to tell my dad about it but she said it has to be our secret and I can't tell anyone. Why can't my father be home more often to see her like this? He always leaves to fish or whatever when he sees I have her over. It's like he's allergic to teenage girls._

_I quietly helped fix her hair in the school's bathroom and we cleaned up the blood as best as possible. We missed homeroom but I didn't mind because I needed to be there for my best friend._

_End Flashback_

Later on, I measured the distance from her house to the school. 6 miles. That's how far an 11 year old walked alone to school while in pain.

I remember another time I felt totally helpless, too. She was a little older, then.

_Flashback_

_It was during our last year in junior high, right before I moved to Phoenix. She came to school with black and blue bruises constantly but they were never in open sight. I knew this because I would always trick her into 'trying out' new clothes from my closet. Either she forgot about them or stopping caring if I would see._

_On this particular day, she had a hard time sitting down in the lunch room because her butt hurt so much. She'd been sitting on one hip or another through all her classes. I took her to the nurse and lied about her having cramps just so she could lie down but there's only so long you can be at the nurse's office until you have to get back to class. I told them I'll take her home and signed us out. I technically took her home. I brought her to MY home to get her some sense of security._

_She actually spent a lot of time at my house. She would always leave before her parents got home from work. I tried to get her to admit what was happening over there and turn them in but she wouldn't. I suppose it would be scary to lose the only home you've ever know, even if it is shitty. The unknown can be scarier._

_Jessica saw me walking Angela to the nurse and told everybody, and anybody who would listen, that Angela looked like she was raped. I hope she was off the mark. I really hope so._

_Angela heard the rumor and she skipped school the next day. When she came back, the look on her face was so heartbreaking. I wanted to give her parents a piece of my mind and use Charlie's handcuffs but she begged me not to. She told me she isn't worth it._

_Fuck. What do you say to that?_

_End Flashback_

I was too dumb to understand that she needed guidance and counseling. It made me so sad how she thought she was worthless. It never made complete sense to stay in a home where you're mistreated. But I didn't say anything out of respect for my friend. I couldn't lose her.

Whatever happened to her at home, although I use that term lightly, she stayed quiet about it. She always refused to talk about it and I didn't want to nag and annoy her. I figured she'll tell me if and when she's ready. Regardless, something happened to change her by the time I came back to Forks. It was like she became a totally different person.

How, you ask? She changed her look entirely. She started dyeing her hair red. Like, fire engine red – not just auburn or whatever. She started wearing goth makeup. I think the most makeup she ever wore previously was maybe some lip gloss. She pierced her ear lobes about 3 or 4 times but nowhere else. I guess the equipment had issues the one time she tried to get her eyebrow pierced. Luckily she's never been into tattoo's, I don't think I could stomach waiting for that to finish. Not only does it take a while but there was a stench and some very creepy guys at Port Angeles's finest parlor. No offense to any other ink…um, places but this one just happened to be like that.

She changed her wardrobe, too. Everything was either dyed black or purchased black. There were no more colors in her clothes. It was like she was preparing to go to a funeral every day. Now that I look back on it, she used to only wear pastels. I think all of my black clothes were purchased by her. The only shoes she wore were combat boots or tall thigh-highs when wearing a short mini skirt. Those typically came down to right below her ass. She didn't have much in the way of inhibitions anymore. She made out with any guy that gave her any attention. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have minded batting for the other team if we went to any gay bars. It's too bad we didn't, actually; they play better music.

She got us two fake ID's when school got out for the summer our junior year (I didn't bother asking how) and we went club hopping constantly, getting drunk and, in Angela's case, sometimes on drugs. All at the proper age of 17. It was fun living like an adult without the responsibility but I knew, deep down, what was happening. She was acting out, trying to defy what life had thrown her way. I made sure to stay close to her and keep her out of harm's way. I can't tell you how many times I had to drag her ass back to her apartment or my house because she got too wasted. It was like she was trying to drink away her problems and forget her past for, at least, a few hours. I guess I would, too. I knew that if I didn't watch out for her, she would eventually end up on the streets as an addict or prostitute.

Even though Ang had money after her parents died, I felt weird about using it for myself. I was able to earn some money in high school by working at Newton's Outfitters and saved it as much as possible. Their son (shudder) is Mike Newton. I swear, he's got dual personalities. One of the them makes fun of how I dress and the other keeps asking me, secretly, to go out and have sex with him. Do I look like a practice fuck before he finds someone to marry? Not that I'd ever want to marry him or anything. Or anyone else anytime soon or maybe never. After seeing Renee and Charlie split on the terms they did, marriage and kids have never been something I've dreamt about. I don't want to screw up a kid with all my baggage and issues. It's just not fair to do that to someone so pure and innocent. In fact, I'd always wondered why people need fishing licenses but any idiot can have a baby, whether they can afford it and/or take care of it well. People go through rigorous evaluation for adoption. One would think someone would wise up and mandate a fucking parenting class at least.

Anyway, me, being me, caught his shit on tape and I blared it during homeroom announcements while the principal was getting head from his assistant. That may or may not have to do with me slipping a little something into his coffee. Anyways, Mike the Fucker knew better than to retaliate and just licked his wounds like the puppy he is and the principal hasn't figured out who helped him get into the mood that day. So glad Charlie had Viagra just laying around. If you had the opportunity to crush dickhead's Mike's ego, wouldn't you? Don't tell me otherwise. I try not to have regrets in life. And to wonder why and how often Charlie needed Viagra.

When I wasn't working, Ang and I hung out. Like, a lot. We'd go to the beach to tan (which never seemed to work) and drink at the clubs, of course to dance and drink, parties to socialize and drink…do you see the pattern? I can't even imagine how many brain cells died that summer. Scary.

When summer was over, we went back to finish up our senior year, but it was more like complete our senior slide. Our grades were good enough to pass. Yeah, not too ambitious for a high GPA. It's not that we're stupid or couldn't achieve 4.0's. It was the stupid drama in our lives along with being bored out of our minds in our classes. They just didn't challenge us enough and we tuned it all out. Authority, responsibility and dependability. Sad, but true. I'm surprised, to this day, that we made it to the graduation ceremony. Granted, we were plastered and laughed like hyenas the whole time but, the important thing was that we made it. Hey, at least we didn't strip like Jessica & Lauren the slut duo! I heard it was a double dare, though. Sucked to be them. I'd always wondered what fucking dare they refused in the first place to have to do that. Good times. I hope someone caught that for the yearbook. Can you imagine seeing that after 20 years and trying to explain it to your kids?

So, we barely graduated and made our way to good ol' community college. After a couple courses, I had absolutely no desire to go back. Not only was it a waste of money, I was bored. Again. I figured college courses would be harder and more challenging but nope. Ang was in the same boat. We were annoyed at the catch 22 we'd created for ourselves. If we had done better in high school, then we would've gone to a college that would've challenged us more. Duh. Well, sucks to be us. I think Ang did a lot better in high school than she told me. She went downhill after her parents' deaths and was a straight-A student before that.

I came up with the band as a way to at least try something new. I'd been playing guitar since I was 14 when Phil taught me how to play. I'd arrived in Phoenix and, apart from taking care of mommy dearest, that's what I filled my time with – playing guitar and writing songs.

I began to write not only songs but in my diary, too. I figured I can always go back to my journal entries and find something to sing about. Yes, Bonnie Raitt is an awesome musician.

But, I digress.

It's actually funny how Ang & I came up with the band's name. Didn't I tell you our name? Shit, I'm really off focus today. Our name is "_Miss'eds." _As in, missed education. Hey, I thought it was funny at the time and I even fell off the barstool laughing! Ok granted we were drunk, no surprise there. Still, it's catchy. I think someday, Ang and I have to learn to eat while drinking. The hangovers fucking suck.

We were going to have school uniforms as the band's wardrobe but the boys nixed that idea pretty quickly. Fucking band meetings. They were not receptive to looking like naughty schoolgirls. At. All. Totally knocked a great idea. I even drew up a cool uniform, halter top, plaid skort and thigh highs with Mary Jane shoes. Bastards. Men dressed as women and wore makeup in the 80s all the time. How do I know? I watched the 80s channel religiously. It's my favorite decade ever.

So, grunge was the next idea. They played me rock, paper scissors for it. I was sooo close. Damnit. Well, at least it wasn't a rapper or country theme. I would've had to leave the band at that point. No offense to rap and country singers, but no way I would do it. It's not my thing. At. All.

That reminds me of a show I saw with Ang while we were drunk at her place.

We watched a show called _American Idol_ where a bunch of talented and not so talented people sing their hearts out, only to be squashed down by an asshole called Simon Cowell or Crowen or something. Anyways, the guy's a total dickhead but the shit that comes out of him is hilarious. I'd have to beat him with a stick if he ever talked to me like that, though.

Back to my point. So we were watching the show as people sang for them at audition time. This old Black guy comes on and at first I think, he's a glutton for punishment and will probably run screaming and crying. Old people can't take criticism, whether it's constructive or not. So the guy starts singing and fucking dancing.

_Pants on the ground!  
Pants on the ground!_  
_Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!_

He kept repeating these lyrics over and over and we were just laughing our asses off. I don't know if it was really funny because we were drunk or not but damn…maybe we should watch this show more often?

Simon didn't disappoint. He asks the guy to stop dancing & singing. "How old are you?"

"64." Holy shit! I had a brand new level of respect for the guy. That takes some serious guts to knock the idiots that wear their pants at the bottom of their butt, belted into place, while being that old on national television. Lord knows there is no way in hell I'd do it, as well as the majority of the rest of America. Then again, I'm from a rinky dink small ass town of Forks, so what do I know?

So, unfortunately, the guy was outside of age rules, who totally sucked ass because he was totally entertaining as fuck. I hope he gets on YouTube and makes a shitload of money and becomes famous.

As I came out of my memory, I looked around and people are still fighting.

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**So, now you know why I said part of the story is dark.**


	3. Chapter 2: Back to the now

**Disclaimer on profile.

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Chapter 2: Back to the now

Phil and Ang ducked for cover and then another creepy guy grabbed me, pointed a tranquilizer gun at me and yelled "Stop!" Everything got quiet. "Enough already. Take 'em in. NOW." He said. They grabbed Phil, Ang & me. Paul and Seth were knocked out cold and Jake was given the warning. He had a pained look on his face and his lips were trembling. Was he tearing up?

"Do not come looking for her. You will be sorry."

We were thrown in a dark blue Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows. You see this shit on TV but would never think people do this in real life! Maybe someone will open the door and yell "Smile! Candid Camera!"

It would be nice to know what's going the fuck on. I think it's pretty safe to say opening my mouth would be a bad idea. So, I stayed quiet. Eventually I'll learn something, right? Ugh, I'm so tired right now.

I fell asleep because I stayed up until 2am last night. Hmm, ok I guess that would make it 2am this morning. Fuck. Stupid insomnia. And to top it off, I remember dreaming about dancing sweatshirts. What the hell does that mean?

Ang was fucking shaking and I think I saw a small tear roll down her face. Phil was looking out the window, trying to figure out where we were going. They both stayed wide fucking awake. Hey, maybe he's not so useless after all!

I woke up a few hours later. I know because the sun is starting to rise. We arrived at a broken down house by the time it's light outside. The window panes were broken and in dire need of a paint job 50 million years ago. The door was not hinged on all the way. Instead of grass, it's all dirt and weeds in front. I'm willing to bet it's no better looking in the backyard. This is where they're going to kill us?

We got escorted out, and that's putting it nicely, inside. I'd say more like fucking tugged. I should've known the nasty broken down house was a cover. We went down to the basement and I was almost expecting to see Buffalo Bill. Instead, I saw a huge, heavy steel door is there with some kind of sophisticated security system. Maybe TV is more real than I thought?

One of the creeps goes through this eye scan and voice test, saying his name is Richard. I think I'll call him Dick. That's his name, right? Ok, maybe I shouldn't piss him off in case he doesn't like to be called that. Maybe I'll just call him that in my head.

After the numerous security scans for the creeps, we got into this elevator. This system now does a scan on us. What the hell did they expect to find on us? Apparently they do find something, because Ang has a knife in her boot. Since when does she carry a knife? I raised my eyebrow at her and she shrugged. Maybe she added this to her "goth" look recently?

Some nameless face is on the other side of the elevator once we stepped off. He put us in separate rooms. I got sent to a decent room. It has a day bed, shelves with books and a TV with a DVD player. What, no HBO or skinemax? It's no Hilton but I suppose I should take what I get and not complain. It would be just my luck to complain and have it taken away.

I know Ang & Phil are safe because I asked to go to the bathroom and saw them on the way there. Let me tell you, they got some seriously awesome bathrooms! It flushes for you but I couldn't find a laser. Yeah, I looked. Then, I got to wash my hands and there's no fucking water or soap. Instead, there's a button that sprays some mist on your hands. They now feel sterile as hell although nice & soft. Go figure; they have state of the art soap.

Back to my new temporary "home" as I now refer to it. After my bathroom break, I tried to figure out how long I've been here but am failing miserably. I don't wear a watch because it seems unnecessary to me. I can normally just ask someone else. Plus, it's just one more piece of jewelry to wear; my necklace and goth ring are plenty enough. Less is more to me, you know?

Ok, back to guessing the time. Has it been a couple hours? Maybe a few? It's too bad I don't have my electronic Sudoku game to pass the time. Ang got that for me on my last birthday. The nameless face came in and gave me some food to eat – if you can call a granola bar and some grape juice some food. Grape juice? Do I look like I'm young enough to be in kindergarten? I suppose I shouldn't complain. Luckily, there were some books on a shelf in the room and I grab one of my favorites, Wuthering Heights.

All of a sudden, the door opened.

A gorgeous fucking guy enters the room and my eyes widened. I think the term would be "_fuckhot_." He's got bronze sex hair that is sticking up everywhere. It wouldn't work on anyone else but it does on him. He has these amazing gorgeous forest green eyes and long auburn eyelashes with a set of full lips that I could taste if I just lean a little…. I seriously need to get a grip on myself and take back my self control. I look like total shit and haven't taken a shower for a day now and am horrified I am meeting him under these circumstances. Oh well. I think I got a pretty damn good excuse. Even Dick was pretty cute. I wonder if they have beauty juice here and, if so, how much do I have to beg to get some?

"Hello, I'm Agent Cullen. You are Isabella Swan?" He asks. Of course, I just nod because speech is not something that I remember anymore.

"You probably have a lot of questions and I'm positive I will not be able to answer the majority of them, but I will tell you what you need to know. Need to know basis and all that." I just nod again.

"You are in a secret compound. No, we are not with the US government. We are a private operation."

"You were attacked for many reasons. The dive you were playing in was a front for an illegal drug smuggling operation. We had to get you out of there before someone…never mind." What the hell was he going to say! Before someone what? What the hell does he mean by that?

"Agent Dwyer should've known better than to let you play there but his judgment lapsed based on him missing an important meeting. I think the excuse was named Rachel."

"Agent Dwyer? As in my stepdad/drummer?" I asked.

"Yes. There's a lot you don't know about the people around you. They were in place for a reason. You are a very important person."

He must be smoking something. Since when am I an important person?

He went on as if he didn't see the confused expression on my face. "There really isn't that much more I can tell you. What I can say is that you are under protection here and will be moved to a secure location where we can provide a safer living arrangement."

I nod again. Shit, maybe I've finally gone mute.

Hot Agent Cullen left the room and I am now more confused than earlier, and I thought that was pretty close to impossible. Shouldn't I be upset that they're essentially kidnapping me without my authorization? Wait, that came out wrong. Who authorizes a kidnapping? I am such an idiot sometimes. Maybe I'm not hyperventilating because my kidnapper is so hot? Do all kidnappers look like that? If so, it's too fucking bad I hadn't been kidnapped sooner!

What's so important about me that I'm being moved to a place and having my free will taken from me?

I shrugged and started reading my book again because I have no idea when anyone is coming back to get me. It would be stupid to hyperventilate or cry even though I really, really want to.

I opened my eyes. I fell asleep? How is that possible when I have insomnia so often? Are they drugging me or something?

I notice I am no longer in the room. Damn, I was starting to get comfortable. Am I being transported to the secure arrangement and they didn't want to bother and wake me?

I look around and notice I'm waking up in a different bed but Ang & Phil are not with me. Shit, I really wanted to talk to Phil to find out if he could tell me anything more. I dunno, maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment since it seems I like to be more and more confused by the minute.

Wait. Is the window moving? Holy fuck, I've started to hallucinate without drugs! At least, I don't think I'm high.

I got out of the bed and looked out the windows. Nope, I'm in a moving train. Where the hell is it going? Where's Hot Agent Cullen? Shit, something tells me I should be scared but I am so curious that I put that emotion to the side for now. Did I mention I'm an idiot sometimes?

We finally make it to a stop and I see lots and lots of dry land. Dirt and weeds again. Candid camera has now turned into a country western flick. I was pulled, again, by some guy with dark sunglasses and a business suit to a nice looking black hummer. He has a beer belly and I thought the buttons on his pants were going to pop off. I think he should be wearing overalls or sweat pants. He clearly has not gotten a hold of any of their beauty juice, either.

After driving for who knows how long since I don't have a watch, we pulled up to this secure gate. What the hell is it with all the security? Oh that's right, I'm an important person and they want me for some strange fucking reason. Maybe I'll get more than a granola bar here. Oooh, maybe they have some cream soda?

Damnit Bella! Focus!

I can no longer see the outside and we've driven into a dark garage with very few lights. The car was parked near a steel elevator. Although, am I expecting a wooden door or something?

Geez, focus! Maybe I should be concentrating on who the fuck has me now because I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore. I mean, Washington. At least, I don't _think_ I am.

We got out of the car and Mr. Driver pushes me ahead of him. He pulled us away from the elevator and opened a normal door (shocking, I know) to use the staircase. Why can't we fucking take the elevator? There's a shitload of stairs. Maybe my captor has claustrophobia?

We went up a fuckload of stairs. After about 5 flights, I must've started heaving. Damn, I'm out of shape. He opened the wall. Oh yeah, the wall. It's a secret. I don't even know how he opened it because I don't see anything to open it via pulling or pushing.

Everything goes dark. I'm still awake but I realize he has blindfolded me and now we're walking some more. As if I could ever find this place again. Seriously? Now we're in an elevator because I can feel the ground shift underneath me. Apparently he doesn't have claustrophobia, after all. This is like a complicated corn maze! We get off and I hear a few voices going on at the same time. Do I hear Angela's voice?

"Angela! Is that you over there? Shit, get me out of here! Wait, where are we? Damnit, you can tell me later." Maybe she can't hear me?

Finally my blindfold is taken off. I squinted my eyes to focus them. There are a few people in the room, more nameless faces. Two stand out. A tanned-skin woman and a dirty blonde male who is giving me creepy looks. Ew. Note to self: stay away from him. Or at least watch my back.

Tan woman, who looks like she's in her early 40's comes up to greet me. She's about 5' tall, beautiful and a little pudgy with super black hair that has a slight wave.

"So, _this_ is Isabella Swan? I've heard so much about you!" She has this big smile on her face as if she has just won the lottery. Sorry babe, it's just me in front of you.

"Really? I haven't heard anything about you. Go figure."

She slapped me. She fucking slapped me! "Ah-ah-ah. Your sarcasm won't get you far here. Be a good girl and listen wisely. Your friend will keep you company while you're here."

How am I supposed to go far here, anyways? Another question that'll take forever to answer, I'm sure. She took us to a conference room with French double doors. Wow, this is a nice place. The décor is so modern and classy with an Aristocratic theme.

Damnit Bella, focus!

We went through the doors and into the forest. We walked a little ways until we came to a beautiful meadow. That's weird – there are lopsided metal chairs there. Tan woman sat down and motioned for us to do the same. God fuck those chairs are uncomfortable. I'd hate to see when she's _not_ being hospitable.

"They're art, Isabella. Maybe you've heard of it?" _Bitch._

"Well, now that we're here, I think Isabella should gain some understanding." It's interesting how her Spanish accent goes in and out. Huh.

"Bella. My name is Bella."

She gave me a pointed glare. "I'll let the interruption go this time but don't let it happen again, Isabella. You both are here for a special purpose. You see, Isabella, your friend Angela probably didn't tell you she works for me. We had a little deal we made in order for that to be possible.

A deal? What kind of a deal? I gave a curious look to Ang and she looked away. She looked away? Since when?

"Oh, where are my manners! I'm Maria. Do not ever address me directly by my name, do you understand? You can call me mami or ma'am."

I nodded. I've now reasoned that she's a psycho. And a narcissist.

"So, you both are special for almost the same reason. You see, I need you both to protect me and anything else necessary. There are plenty of evil people in this world and we need to keep them away from us. Angela is skilled in self defense and weaponry, although to a point. I think you're somewhat aware of that, yes?"

I remembered the knife. I nodded again.

"She hasn't displayed it before because it has never been required up until two days ago." It has been a couple days? Wow, time fucking flies when we're having fun.

I waved my hand slightly. "Why am I special?"

"You are special, dear Isabella, because you were born for a specific purpose. You are not a child born from Renee & Charlie Swan. You are a medically created product-"

"I'm a fucking product? Are you fucking kidding me?"

She slapped me again. Fuck! When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?

She closed her eyes and looked like she was counting to 10 to calm down. She opened her eyes and continued. "As I was saying, you are a medically created produce designed specifically as a weapon. However, they didn't take into account your surroundings, we'll call it? You were taken away before you could be trained to fulfill your potential. Instead, the people who took you messed with your head and fucked with your life. For example, Renee's overdose. Wait, you do realize she didn't overdose on her own, right?"

Wait, what? "Um, no."

"Phil had to…dispose…of her because she got too curious and gave her too much medicine, also known as cocaine in capsules, instead of the Tylenol she requested because of a headache. He needed to keep tabs on you and not have to deal with your "mother" and her need to uncover what's not her business. They do things in such despicable ways. They murdered your for-all-intents-and-purposes mother! We need to keep your talents out of their hands."

Phil murdered my mother? I could feel a tear running down my cheek but didn't allow myself to cry in front of said bitch. Since when do I have talents? I stayed quiet this time and nodded.

Curiously, she seemed happy I stayed shut up. "Now, let me continue. You are a weapon but only as good as one that can be trained. Angela has been trained a little but I need to get you both fully trained to your fullest potential. I will offer you to opt out right now; you can take your chances with "them" or with me. Oh, "they" are called "The Cullens" or, as I like to call them, "Los Cullenistos." That's my own private joke.

You have the opportunity to learn and do great things and help people from dangerous attacks, whether biomedical or terrorist ones. This is a great opportunity but, I will warn you, it's very likely you'll be disposed of if you go back to your life. They will find you again, even if you go on the run, and I might not be able to save you next time. You've been hidden very well for a long time and it's time you've embraced who you are and what you're destined to become. Join us. It will be worth it."

I'm so confused by now. I looked over at Ang and she shrugged with a hint of a smile. That's all I need to make my decision.

"I'm in."

After meeting with Maria, she showed us to our room. Well, that's a plus, at least. Now I get to stay with Angela. Maybe she'll tell me more?

I ran to the shower and, OMG, ran the hot water for at least a half hour. It didn't even turn cold! They must have a huge water heater. My skin pruned and I wrapped myself up in a very nice, fluffy towel.

Our room was pretty large, actually. There were clothes already in the closet and I grabbed a black t-shirt and jeans. I put my hair up into a sloppy bun since it was wet and I didn't have anyone to look nice for. There was a mini fridge with, OH MY LORD! Cream soda, marshmallows and twinkies! Holy fuck, how did these people know me already?

"I told them a little about you. I hope you don't mind." Angela said. Ok, that makes sense that they know, I guess.

She went on, "They contacted me a few years ago. She recruited me while you were in Phoenix and I went through some training then. Not much, but enough to protect myself from…never mind. It was good Phil made his move on Renee not too long after you had been there."

"Renee dying was a bad thing, Angela! A bad thing! How could it be good?"

"Bella, Renee was not your biological mother. Please, try to remember that. She was just some woman who was told to raise you and not ask questions; eventually, her curiosity got her murdered. She should've left things alone and stayed oblivious if she wanted to stay alive but she knew her curiosity would lead her somewhere dangerous. It's not a good thing she died – I know you loved her – but try and start looking at things from a logical standpoint. That's the only way you'll survive from now on."

I decided to move on. We weren't going to agree on this anytime soon. "Tell me more about this place. What is the training?"

Of course, as if on cue, the door opened.

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	4. Chapter 3: The Training

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Chapter 3: The Training

A very good looking man opened the door. Actually, that's an understatement of the century. Holy crap he was gorgeous. 6'4", tousled blonde hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen. His cheeks looked like they have a permanent flush under his light stubble. _Sexy._ He's wearing a tucked in button down white shirt, tight jeans and cowboy boots. All he is missing is a straw of hay in his mouth. I think I may have even drooled a little. Or frothed. Is it me or is it really fucking hot in here?

Well, at least I am showered now and in new clothes. I am rethinking how I should've done something better with my hair, though. Maybe I should be wearing some kind of shimmery lip gloss for a seductive look? Is my mouth hanging open because he sure as hell is looking at me like I'm slow. I really need to pay attention to whatever the hell he's saying. Remember, Bella, listening is _good._

1) Close mouth. 2) Focus!

"Hello, I'm Jasper Whitlock. You may call me Jasper. I prefer "Sir" during the training sessions. Sit down. I have a lot to go over with you. I am Maria's trainer as well as her second in command."

His accent reeks of sex and I love how he just takes charge. Would he know what I'm thinking if I start fanning myself? Ang will never me live this down.

"You will go through a vigorous series of tests: mental, emotional and physical. Then, we will assess where and how to begin. Since we don't know the full extent of your knowledge and upbringing, I'm going to assume you know pretty close to nothing but Maria wants to make sure."

Should I be offended?

"Let's go." He said.

We left our bedroom and followed behind him to a state of the art gym facility. This is all so surreal. This is because I am a test tube baby?

"You were not a test tube baby." Jasper, or Sir, said. Shit, I said that aloud?

"I don't have all of the information on how you were created, but I do know that wasn't it."

We walked a little further to a room that looked like the equivalent of a college exam room. There were desks with computers, a podium and a projector. Jasper told us to sit down and started speaking.

"Turn on the computers. A program will start up right away. Answer all of the questions as honestly as possible. This will help, not hinder, your progress. I'll be back when I get notified of your completion."

How the hell will he be notified of our completion? And who talks like that? Oh well, maybe I should stop asking so many questions. It's starting to hurt my brain. I know I'm not stupid but I do tend to question what normal people see as self-explanatory.

I turned on the computer. Angela was on the other side of the room, so I couldn't look at her answers. Damnit. What if I fail the test? Wait, he said he assumes I know nothing. Well shit, I'll prove him wrong! I know _some_ stuff. Public education at its finest, thank you very much!

It started fairly slowly. Some math, history and English questions. Then it went on to other languages (I don't know any others) and then, weirdly enough, it started asking Mensa questions. They can't expect me to be that smart, right? Fuck. I know they're Mensa questions because I was sent a funny email to test yourself…etc and I recognized some of them.

I answered their Freudian image questions – I don't know, they all looked like duck images to me. Shit, maybe they were just blobs after all?

Finally, finally…we were done at roughly the same time. Sir Jasper, as I like to call him in my brain, came in. Shit, I hope I don't say that aloud. Lord knows what he's capable of. He's technically not supposed to hurt or kill me, right?

He looked at his computer's screen and did a hmm and okay. He then looked up.

"Follow me," He said.

We walked past a shitload of gym equipment as well as other stuff I don't even think I've seen before. We stretched in a mirrored room. I could definitely use some physical fitness. I think all those twinkies I eat are showing. It would be nice to have a flat stomach and my thighs not slap together. I mean, I'm not fat but…average. I was brought out of my thoughts when we stopped walking in front of some gym equipment.

"You will start your training here. For the first week, I want to see your muscles and strength improve. Next week, we will work on flexibility but will still continue working on the machines and weights at the gym for muscle build-up. The week after that is a special surprise." I don't think I like the sound of that. He doesn't seem to be a happy special surprise type of person, you know?

For the whole first week, I was in pain. A LOT of pain. Building muscles exhausted me. We did the gym machines and then he had the great idea of adding sports, too. So, we played basketball. I'm pretty sure he thought it was a good idea but I'm just not the sporty type. Why couldn't it be a contact sport, something like Tango? I'm just sayin…ok fine, I'll admit it, it would be nice to check out what he's packing and feel him up.

Thankfully, we had a Jacuzzi and a swimming pool to go to after our workouts, so that was good. In between, we would sleep, eat a lot of healthy shit or read books. Not books for pleasure. There were books that taught you how to understand logistics and others taught you languages. Nope, no Jane Austen or Nancy Drew or Agatha Christie.

I noticed Jasper watched me with curious interest during my intense workouts. I hope I was making him proud. He would smile at me every so often and I felt like I wanted to do anything to see it again because he normally has a serious demeanor the majority of the time.

While working out, I listened to language speech development. At the end of the first week, I was doing pretty well with Spanish. I've always been a good student when I put in some effort and was a quick study but now that I was concentrating, I was like a learning machine. Sponge is probably the better word. I absorbed everything I was taught and could retain it. It was like my photographic memory kicked in or something.

The next week was tougher. We did stretching, yoga and every-fucking-else thing you can do to keep a body flexible. For some weird reason, my body was able to adapt to all of this and not give out like probably a normal human being's would. Maybe they put something in our water? Oh yeah, after that first day, there was no more cream soda. Fuckers replaced that with healthy vitamin water and vitamin supplements. Ang and I didn't get to talk much at all. We were so busy with the regimen that our minds had barely time to think at all outside of it. I think that was Jasper's plan all along. Bastard knew what he was doing and he was damn good at it, too.

The third week: our special surprise. Oh joy! You'll never believe it! Jasper came into our room Sunday morning of our third week.

"Hello ladies. You seem to be keeping up well. This week we will be doing martial arts training. However, because you've been working so hard, I'm going to give you today. Off. So, no working out, no reading unless you want to – you can sleep or do fun things. Besides the aquatic area, we have a game room. There's a pool table, a card table and arcade machines. Would you like to go there now?"

Angela and I looked at each other for, oh – maybe a split second – before screaming "YES!"

"Follow me."

He walked down a corridor and into the famous elevator. We went to the "G" floor. Wow, he wasn't kidding. This is really nice. She and I went to the pool table right away.

"I call solids!" I yelled out.

And so the day went on. The best part about playing with Angela was she didn't care if we competed or not. Sure, we played against each other. I won't brag but she lost pool 3-2. Anyway.

We got caught up in just having fun for the sake of having fun. No scoring, no competition, and no bad emotions. We were happy and it was like we were transported back to being 8 years old again. But slightly taller. And more muscular.

Jasper watched us make fools of ourselves and then he left for a little while. I could see the amusement on his face and heard him chuckle a few times. He soon came back with lunch. After lunch, the three of us played cards. He won. Every. Fucking. Time. No matter what we played – cribbage, poker, whatever. Note to self: never play strip poker with him. Unless we're alone.

What was interesting to me, though, was that the "games" we were playing seemed to be designed to get us using our reflexes and mind strategies. I should've known he doesn't do things just for fun. Now I know how Karate Kid felt after learning the real reason he washed cars the way he was specifically taught. Can anyone say wax on, wax off?

We left and he brought us up to our room. "Ok, you both will get up early tomorrow for MA training. Sleep well." Fuck. His version of early and mine are completely different. No more 7am wake up's.

We ended up having dinner and watching a movie before falling asleep.

I gotta tell you, I haven't had this much sleep in like… forever. The past two and a half weeks have been glorious to my eye bags.

If I thought muscle, mental or flexibility training was bad, that shit was nothing compared to martial arts. Working directly with Sir Jasper was great and awful at the same time. He is so hot in his workout clothes; let me rephrase. Some of his clothes. Apparently Sir Jasper doesn't wear a top when doing martial arts. I can see all of his muscles bulging out. I just want to tie him down to the table, rip his pants off and lick him. Thank goodness he can't read my mind! Although, why is he smirking at me? Shit! Am I looking at him funny? Oh my fuck he is sexy.

On Monday, we watched him show us all of the different methods within martial arts. The weaponry included the Bo staff, Escrima sticks, Nunchucks and, of course, different swords. Is it bad that I find him demonstrating a sword erotic?

After he showed us the different moves and variations, we started practicing. He watched us and I could just feel his eyes on me. I wonder what he thinks of my butt. It looks very nice now.

Focus, Bella!

By Wednesday, Ang & I had gone over the weapons and tried them on the dummies. We started to fight and practice on each other. I tried to think of everything that he taught us and was fairly confident that I was doing well.

He blew the whistle. "STOP!"

Why is he stopping us? Maybe my ass is still too big…no, probably not. I checked it out this morning.

"I stopped you because, even though you're fighting well, you need to be more graceful and precise. Move your weight only when necessary and have your opponent move more often than you. Let them burn their energy sooner. Once you see them weakening, make your move. Make them think they have the upper hand until it's too late. Understand?"

To demonstrate, he grabbed Angela and began showing me what he means. She kept coming after him and all he did was dodge her. I understood what he meant now. She was burning through her energy and was losing her strength. Meanwhile, since he was dodging, he still had all of his energy; his adrenalin was pumping and adding to his strength and speed. He was so precise in his movements. He anticipated every attack, her every movement. I still want to lick him.

By the end of the week, I was in awe but I had done well and learned to fight not only in martial arts but proven fighting strategy.

Though, you want to know the bad part? He caught me saying Sir Jasper once.

_Flashback_

"_Now, I want you to not move your arms while doing a fly kick. Isabella. You try it."_

_Seriously, why the fuck can't you call me Bella, Sir Jasper?_

"_Excuse me? Why did you call me Sir Jasper?"_

_Oh fuck. I did NOT just say that aloud. Apparently, I did. "Um…I don't know?"_

"_First, everything you do has to have a reason. Don't ever do anything otherwise. You'll get yourself killed. Second, you were told to call me Sir while in training. Clearly you need a reminder. I want 150 push-ups. NOW."_

_End Flashback_

Yeah, I don't think that'll happen again. On the plus side, I don't think I've ever felt stronger in my entire life. I should've joined a gym a long time ago!

We saw Maria at the end of our MA training. She looked exactly the same. Same hair-do, same make-up. I don't know why I expected any of it to change. Maybe because I'm so exhausted that it feels like I haven't seen her in so long?

She greeted me the same. "Hola, Isabella. Como esta tu instrucción?"

Ever since she found out I finished learning it, she's decided to speak to me in Spanglish.

"Eh, bien. Jasper nos ha estado ayudando mucho." _Good, Jasper has been helping us a lot._

All of a sudden, she fucking came at me to slap me again. Only this time, I was ready. I stopped her hand by total reflex without even thinking about it. Holy shit!

"Veo él ha estado haciendo bien con usted. Sin embargo, no toma un tono tan flojo conmigo. Yo no vacilaré en castigarle. Será peor que cualquier Jasper le ha dado." (Translation: _I see he has been doing well with you. However, do not take such a lax tone with me. I will not hesitate to punish you. It will be worse than whatever Jasper has given you.)_

Shit.

"Since you're doing muy bien physically, next week you will be working on more mental advantages."

Double shit, mami.

Jasper came into our room and brought us to the college room, as I have started to call it.

"Today we will begin Mental Advantages training. You will learn techniques on coercion, resourcefulness, and the normal subjects only applied in a more…diverse manner. We learned how to kill someone with our bare hands as well as any weapons. We also went over using current resources (furniture, other people…etc). If you come upon a threat, you must be able to get the threat under control mentally before using physical force.

Now, let's begin."

We started off on a computer test to, yet again, find out what we knew and how we would handle different scenarios. This wasn't anything easy, let me assure you. I'll say that I think they were all trick questions, in case I fail this test. Angela seemed to go through this test much faster than me. Does that mean she better, smarter and/or faster?

After we were done, he wouldn't give us out scores. Fucker. Ok, gorgeous fucker. He led us to an empty room and brought in a gun. He grabbed Angela and brought it to her head.

"Talk me out of shooting her brains out."

Well, that's an interesting way to start a lesson. How the fuck do I do that?

"Um…"

"No hesitation, Isabella! Say only what you mean to say and nothing extra!"

I nodded and looked down. It's hard to concentrate when looking directly into his eyes.

I thought about what I wanted to say and toughened up. There are plenty of beautiful and evil people in this world, right? I looked up straight into his eyes. "Put the gun down. You have nowhere to go. Even if you kill her, I will kill you. Slowly and painfully. Give yourself up right now and we can work something out."

He smiled and let Angela go. "Good job. You can't be completely vague about working something out because people in desperate situations need to heed absolution."

"What would you have said? How would you have handled it?" I asked.

"I would've disarmed him, shot him to incapacitate him and not bothered with small talk. If he's threatening someone near and dear to me, he's lost his chance to talk it out."

Huh. I wasn't quite expecting that answer. Note to self: never piss Jasper off. For the next few days, we went over different scenarios. How to tell when someone's lying, how to disarm and how to talk someone into doing what you want when you want something. I wonder if that'll come in handy next time he's around and I'm horny?

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	5. Chapter 4: The Mark

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**Chapter 4: The Mark**

I woke up in the middle of the night. You would think I'd sleep like a log after so much training, right? My mind was going a million miles a minute. We've now been here a month and a half. What is the whole point of this? Would I ever find out who "we" were and who "they" are? We still weren't being told much and it was starting to bother me a lot. Jasper was proud of our great achievement scores. At least that was a good.

As I opened my eyes, I saw Jasper standing over me. "Jasper?" I asked. His eyes widened and he looked torn between wanting to stay and wanting to flee. I put my hand on his arm and silently reassured him that I was ok with him being there.

"Hi Bella."

Is he seriously and _finally_ calling me Bella? Who is this person and what have they done with the real Jasper?

"Hi." I said.

"I hope I'm not upsetting you by being here."

"You're not." I was starting to get tired of this small talk. Was there a point to him being here? He just sat there, staring at me. I decided to just be blunt.

"So, what's up? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

He hesitated but then decided to just get it out. "Bella, you must know I have had good intentions ever since you've arrived."

I nodded and motioned with my hand for him to go on.

"But, I've been fighting this attraction to you and just…I was just…well, um…."

I have never, and I mean never, seen him so tongue tied. "Just what?"

He didn't say anything and just kissed me. Wait, what? He's kissing me? Shit, I should probably be kissing him back but I was too stunned. Oh, whatever. I need to stop thinking and start doing. So, I started kissing him back. His lips were so soft and not dominating at all, although I wouldn't mind that. It was good. I mean, really good. He had this taste that is all his own. I can't even describe it. Just use your imagination.

He held me gently by my arms and stroked my shoulders with his thumbs. He moved his right hand to the back of my neck and it felt so…intimate. After a few minutes, we broke apart. We smiled at each other.

"I have wanted to do that for so long. You have no idea."

"I think I do. But, what happens now?" I looked to Angela and she was still sleeping.

"Nothing has to change, if you don't want it to. I just wanted to tell you how I felt. Ever since you came here, I can't stop thinking about you. You dominate my thoughts and nothing makes sense anymore." He admitted.

"Let's keep this to ourselves, for now. Is that ok?"

He smiled. "Whatever you want. Well, I should let you get your sleep. Tomorrow is a big day."

"Why?"

"Tomorrow you will be marked."

We kissed for a bit longer and had to stop because if we didn't, we'd wake Angela with me screaming for him to fuck me and that just wouldn't do. She would be surprised and pissed at the same time. Ok it would be funny but still.

Wait, I just realized something. What did he mean, marked?

In the morning, we were escorted by an unnamed face to a room we had yet to see. Maria was sitting in a chair that resembled a throne. She has some serious power issues. I'll have to ask Jasper about that. Shit, what do I call him now? And, should I tell Angela what happened? We've always shared everything. Well, maybe not everything. I mean, hell, she didn't tell me about her dark period while I was in Phoenix or her training or her being a spy…do I know _anything_ about her anymore? Wait, this is Angela – I need to stop this whole internal monologue. Fuck.

Ok back to the present. We were not invited to sit, so what the fuck were we doing here? What was it Jasper said? I went to sleep so quickly afterwards. And then, only then, did I notice the tattooing instruments.

Maria spoke up. "You are here because today I will be marking you. Do you know what that means?"

No response. I have since come to learn that Maria prefers we act like submissives. Like, we need to get permission for every-fucking-thing. So, when she's in the room, we don't talk, sit, walk or anything unless she says so. Breathing is a toss-up and a gray area. It's annoying but I'm humoring her for now. She's gotta lighten up eventually, right?

"That means that your ass in mine, literally. Who wants to go first?" Actually, I take it back. Maybe she's not capable of lightening up.

Well, now or later. "Ok, I'll bite. I'll go first."

I went to stand over to the side of the room where the marking artist was. Apparently, when Maria said my ass was hers, she was being quite literal. Angela and Jasper were standing over by Maria and watching.

The guy took out this sharp looking knife that seemed to be dated and very old. Was its age going to infect me? It looked like some kind of Asian fighting knife/sword, only shorter.

"Strip your bottoms and bend over." He said.

"James, be careful." Maria ordered.

I took off my pants and underwear. Well, this is humiliating. I mean, I knew Jasper would _eventually_ see me naked but not this soon. James, who I will now call the sick-son-of-a-bitch, heated up the knife-sword and cut me once above my ass and a horizontal line on each butt cheek. He then proceeded to tattoo some Asian script on the outer part of my ass cheeks.

"So, do I get a picture? What does it say?" I asked Maria. She looked like she wanted to go and slap me but it would interrupt James the SSoaB so she stayed put.

"It's a Kanji proverb.

期(Ichi-go) is lifetime. 一会(Ichi-e) is one time. It means 'One time in your life'. Every encounter is important because it is only one time in your life and will never recur. This is the Japanese proverb created by Master Sen No Rikyu."

I think this is the first time I might have actually have some respect to Maria. This proverb is very deep. I don't mind having that on my ass. But if she put something else, I'll have to retaliate. I think Jasper saw my look because he smirked in my direction.

I had to lie down afterwards because, seriously, who can sit down after a tattoo on their ass? I waited for Angela to be done with hers and we were wheeled back to our room. We were brought lunch and dinner there while lying down on our stomachs. How long does a tattoo take to heal? Whose fucking idea was it to put it on my ass? Oh, that's right. M-A-R-I-A. Bitch is probably laughing her ass off.

Angela and I took this "down time" to talk and have some meaningful conversation, not just the day to day bullshit.

"Angela?"

"Yes?"

"What did Maria do for you that made you come work for her?"

"Bella, I don't think you want to know."

"Of course I do! I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

She looked conflicted and I almost wanted to take my request back. "_Shekilledmyparents_."

Wait, what did she just say? Did I hear that correctly?

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that, slowly, for me?"

She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "She killed my sorry excuse for parents and got me the rights to live by myself instead of moving to a foster home."

To say I was shocked would have been an understatement. Of course, it makes sense now that I look back on it. Angela is not a spiteful person but perhaps there's something she's not telling me of what happened while I was in Phoenix? Something awful must've happened. I feel terrible I wasn't there for her in her time of need.

After talking more about our situation, she skimmed over about how life was and how she couldn't tell me about this. She had limited knowledge on what we were or how we came to be. I just can't figure out how Maria & Jasper know about us. She doesn't know either.

On day #2, we were rewarded with a TV and some movies. Maria said we can't watch any TV or go on the computer because we shouldn't be "tainted" by misinformation. While totally inconvenient, she had a point. Who wants garbage spewed at them?

Instead, we got movies and new books. I am now fluent in Spanish and am getting decent in French. Angela is covering the Asian languages. She has Mandarin Chinese down and is beginning Japanese. That'll come in handy next time we need to order sushi. As if. Those people speak English just fine! Although, I always forget the difference between sushi and sashimi. Again, I really need to stop with the inner monologue. Does anyone really talk about sushi in their head?

We've been having some fun practicing the languages to each other. Jasper sometimes comes in and speaks with us in different languages for practice. We talked about views on life, how he grew up and the different life experiences we've had. It's funny to hear him speak another language using a southern accent. I wonder why he doesn't drop his southern accent.

I learned he grew up with a nanny who had a thick Texan accent. That's where he gets it from. She died a few years ago, poor thing.

He also told me he loves to go horseback riding and motorcycle riding. He owns a Ducati Multistrada 1200. I don't really know what that means but apparently it's a red one. I don't speak "Cycle Source." That's a magazine, if you didn't know. Technically I didn't know about the magazine up until a couple minutes ago, either.

I have a feeling he comes here to just be here and spend time with us. I wonder who he used to spend time with before we arrived.

On day #3, I was in the middle of listening to recorded French phrases when I saw Jasper enter our room. It's funny how I just realized that he never knocks or hesitates to enter. Shouldn't I be annoyed? I think it's probably due to him seeing the both of us with our pants down that it probably desensitized us from any embarrassment. That and I can't get enough of seeing him.

"Bella, can I talk to you a moment?" As if he needs to ask…

"Of course. What's up?" I patted the bed for him to sit down. He seems to be nervous.

"Let's go somewhere private, ok?"

"Sure."

We walked into the woods to a different meadow that was near a creek. It was a beautiful day although I still couldn't sit down. So, I decided to stand and I saw him sit on a big rock.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

His eyes gazed into mine. "You will be sent on a mission to collect intelligence with Angela. You have a week to prepare. In that time, you should be all healed from the tattoo, as well. Angela will be your backup if anything goes wrong."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, we have some information on your initial design but would like to see if there are any other test subjects besides you and Angela. Maria wants any documentation they may have."

"Where is this?"

"Remember the first place you were taken to after the bar fight?"

"Yes."

"They probably mentioned a different location of theirs, right? Well, that's where I want you to go." He looked at me and couldn't find the words, but I'm pretty sure I know what he wants to say. He's scared something may happen to me or if he may not ever see me again, although he has trained us well so we should be fine. Should being the key word.

I kissed him with as much passion as possible, just to let him know that he's not the only one that's scared. I've come to care for him. I don't know if it's necessarily love because that seems too soon for such a strong emotion. But, he has a place in my heart, no doubt about it.

He returned the kiss with vigor and when we pulled away from each other, our foreheads leaned into each other's and we conveyed everything just through the expressions on our faces. No words were necessary.

Jasper and I left the meadow to go to back to my bedroom. Angela was just getting out of the shower with only a towel on but she didn't care he was there.

Jasper began. "Angela, please sit down. We need you and Bella to obtain more information on your initial design. You are to get it and bring it back here for further analysis. I've explained some of this to Bella already."

She nodded.

"You will be taken by car to a drop off point after you arrive by helicopter. You will be given an access card to enter as well as money. You will need to wear contacts that will identify you as someone that already works there, since yours will give your identity away. You will also be given a voicebox. This device changes your speech and will match the new identity.

Bella, you are now Sela Bands. Angela, you are now Laney Brews. Do you have any questions?"

I was stunned and excited. Will I now find out more about myself and where I came from?

"How do we collect the information?" I asked.

"Good question. I will give you a camera inside your sunglasses. Each time you wink twice, a picture will be taken and send to me over satellite. Take as many pictures as possible. Just remember to use caution. If people see you wink too often, they'll think something is wrong with you and you'll draw attention to yourself. Their compound is fairly large, so this shouldn't be too hard unless it becomes a physical fight."

"Are you serious? Not too hard? You do realize what you're asking for, right? Their place is heavily guarded and sealed. It'll take a freaking miracle to be there unnoticed _and_ get into whatever design room you're referring to. Not that we even know where that is." I blurted out.

"Another good point. I have the blueprints of the building and will be able to tell you where to go once you're in. You will have a microphone in one earring and there is an implanted chip within you that will allow me to tell you things that no one will be able to overhear through a special device I have here." He said.

WHAT? Come again?

"I'm sorry, could you expand on that a little?" I asked.

"I don't have a lot of information on your design, so I can't explain it very well to you. Besides, we don't have time for this. All you need to know are the logistics of the mission. You are to report back here as soon as possible. That means no stopping in Vegas." He winked at me. Ah….all the things I could do to, I mean with, him in Vegas. Endless possibilities.

Ok, Bella, focus! I'm pretty sure Angela caught that wink, too.

"I think we're good. Angela? Do you have anything you want to ask?"

"Actually, I do. What if we are captured?" She asked. Honestly I hadn't considered that one. Yep, I'm an official idiot.

"Stay there and I will get help. You both are our finest agents and I doubt anything will go wrong. But, if it does, I will know about it immediately and won't hesitate to come get you. I have an informant that works there that I can trust to help me." He replied.

"Who is it?"

"That is not your concern. The less you know about some things, the better. They can't coerce knowledge out of you that you don't have, right?" Ok, good point.

I'm almost positive he's bluffing on the insider information but won't call him on it. No need to worry Angela. "Ok, let's do this."

Angela's POV

I don't know if I'm being paranoid but this feels like a trap. What does Maria think she's going to prove? Their security will probably be better than ours, hands down. And Bella, she's a walking target. She still has that "there's some good in everybody" mentality.

Hate to break it to you, but that is just wrong. You want examples? Maria. My parents.

_My Parents._

Ever since I can remember, I've been beaten and bruised by my dad. My mother, in the beginning, tried to help keep him away but he would throw her across the room to stay out of his way or grab the nearest object and hit her with it. She'd be all bloody whenever she stood in his way and ended up in the hospital more than once although she'd learned how to bandage herself up for all the other less drastic times. There was nothing I could do right in his eyes, no matter what and no one was going to keep him from giving me what the right punishment should be.

He would always find an excuse; I would get an A- in school, I didn't wash, fold and put away the clothes right away…etc. At first I used to think he was doing this because I was a bad person but now, looking back, I realize he was just an evil man who took his frustrations out on me violently. I suppose I was lucky he never sexually touched me. I've read about other abuse victims going through much worse and I'm not sure if I would've mentally recovered from _that_. I tried my best to do as well in school as possible and to hide when my father got drunk.

Eventually, my mother didn't bother even looking my way. She pitied me but did nothing to stop the abuse. I couldn't tell on them; they were my parents, after all! I wouldn't have been born if it weren't for them, so don't I owe them the chance to stay together and try to keep the peace somehow?

Bella was always so concerned for me. She was my best friend but I couldn't tell her this. In fact, I rarely spoke because I was used to not speaking at home unless spoken to and even then I would get in trouble in some way or another. She'd get so frustrated and even if she didn't say it, I knew she'd rather me turn them in to her dad and come live with her. That would be so nice and the best thing that I could dream of but, that's exactly the only thing it could be. A dream.

She'd witnessed a couple of "afters", even though I tried my best to keep her out of it. My father even threatened to punish her and I would take her punishment, even though neither of us deserved it. It was all for stupid reasons; her shirt wasn't tucked in and/or ironed, her socks didn't match, or her shoes weren't polished. Not that my father took the best care of his things, but I was expected to make sure everything was cleaned, ironed, hung and polished. If not, I could expect another beating.

This was why I never had time for an extracurricular activities, not that my parents would've allowed it anyways. My father always kept me under his thumb and even school was a privilege that I didn't want to chance being taken away, so I didn't ask for more.

As the years went on, my father moved on from drinking to drugs. He'd tried uppers, downers, pot…anything he could get his hands on just to forget his pathetic daughter who couldn't do anything right. The beatings got more severe and I couldn't cry or ask him to stop because that would make him even more angry. _How dare you! Don't I do enough for you? I give and give and you just take and take ,_ he would yell. I just couldn't see a way out of this hell. I was pretty sure I didn't deserve it, since I never saw Charlie do stuff like that or yell at Bella like this but maybe there's something evil about me and not her? Maybe I'm forcing him to act out on me like this? I'm not so sure…

My mother, by the time I was 9, was rarely home. I think she found love somewhere else. I saw him drop her off one day. She didn't know I was home. He had a little boy that was about 4 years old in the backseat.

I hid in the basement and cried and cried and cried. She found a new child to love.

So, when Maria found me, I just had to take the opportunity. She seemed like she cared about what happened to me. She obviously wanted something in return, but I needed to at least see if my parents could be turned around and maybe shown a way to love me and we could be a happy family. Maybe she could help, after all?

_Flashback_

_I was walking to school on a Wednesday morning. I missed my bus again because I wasn't allowed to leave without cleaning up the dishes my father broke last night and his vomit when he was drunk and got angry. He started throwing things and told me I couldn't leave the house without cleaning it first. And then he passed out._

_Anyways, a Spanish woman approached me. She gave me a big, warm smile. I haven't seen a smile like that since Bella left. I miss her so much._

"_Hello, my name is Maria. What is yours?"_

_I should not talk to strangers but she seemed so nice, compared to anything my home life had. "I'm Angela."_

"_Do you want to take a walk with me and talk?"_

_She wanted to talk to me? What could she possibly want to say to such a failure like me? "Um, ok. Sure."_

_We walked for about half a mile before I realized we were in the forest near the school. I looked up at her, waiting for her to speak. I sure didn't know what to say._

"_Angela, you are very special. I know your home life is hard and I find it tragic that such a nice girl has to put up with that. I'd like to make you an offer. I can teach you how to defend yourself and help make your parents understand that they can't treat you so poorly. What do you say?"_

_She wants to help me? No one can help me. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. My home life is fine and I really should get going to school before I miss any classes. My dad will be upset if I skip school." I told her._

"_Angela, I know all about your dad and how he beats you. You don't need to deny telling me anything. I've watched you. I know you're very special. Let me help you."_

_This seems too good to be true. "Ok. What do you want back from me?"_

_True to her word, she took me to a big building that had all sorts of gym equipment. I met a man named Jasper, who was patient and taught me a lot of self defense moves._

_There was a change in my dad. He started staying home and not drinking so much. He was being somewhat nice to me although he acted like I was a stranger and avoided me as much as possible, as if I was a leper._

_About seven months had passed and a policeman came to my house. I had just turned 16 a few days ago. It was Bella's dad, Charlie._

"_Angela, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your parents died in a fatal car crash this evening. Your father apparently had too much to drink. I'm sorry."_

_I knew Maria threatened him to stop drinking and clean his act up. As soon as she saw him starting up again, she "took care" of the problem. She also took care of the legalities and somehow found a way to let me, a 16 year old, stay in my house myself without being sent to foster care._

_I just had no idea how painful it was going to be to make it up to her for her help. I had to watch Bella for her when she came back from Phoenix. She wouldn't tell me why but I knew she couldn't have possibly had any good intentions. Unfortunately, my hands were tied because if I didn't, I'd either meet the same fate as my parents or get sent away from Bella._

_And I couldn't risk losing the only friend I'd ever had._

_End Flashback_

I hope it's not a trap. I can't imagine, after everything, to lose Bella. I would do anything for her. She has no idea just how much she has done for me.


	6. Chapter 5: Mission Critical

**Disclaimer on profile.

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Chapter 5: Mission Critical

Angela and I were dropped off at the airport in Alaska by helicopter. Jasper assured me landing in the helicopter wouldn't be considered out of the ordinary. He has never let me down so I have placed all of my trust in him. I'm pretty sure the saying 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' should apply but I usually have the stupids around Jasper.

We had these stealth motorcycles waiting for us and were given coordinates of the compound. I definitely wouldn't have found this shit on my own. The GPS has got to be one of the best things ever invented. Holy fuck, this is great.

Ok Bella, focus. You can do this. We can do this.

Angela and I didn't even need to walk because these motorcycles made little to no noise (think of quiet dishwashers). Even so, Alaska is freaky cold. I kinda saw that coming but you're not really prepared for something until it hits you right smack in your face. Namely for me, the cold ass wind.

We found a pothole that was a crack in their security system. Who the fuck doesn't account for potholes? I thought I heard a click but, with snow freaking everywhere, I couldn't see anything that would make that noise. Ang didn't look like she heard anything, so I brushed it off.

We turned the pothole to the left and lifted up. I've got this nagging feeling this seems almost too easy.

We climbed down the stairs attached to the pothole and jumped once there were only about 4 stairs left. Instead of a nasty smelly sewer or something, we ended up in a small storage room, filled with medical supplies. Strange. There was a door to the right. I motioned for Angela to follow me and made a shush look with my finger over my mouth as I opened it slowly and looked around. They have those white sterile hallways that smell disinfected, like Lysol or Clorox clean but they probably use something profession and not over the counter. Are we in the right area of the compound?

All of a sudden, I heard Jasper's voice in my head. Wow, he wasn't kidding.

"_Bella, can you hear me? Wink twice for yes."_

Of course I winked.

"_Good. Now, let me see where you are from the camera." _He had shown me earlier there is a little push button on my glasses that record and display, real-time, what I see. So, I pushed the button that made it look like I was adjusting their placement and nodded to Angela to explain what I was doing. Apparently hearing other people's voices in her head wasn't in her programming. I'm not sure whether that's lucky for me or not.

"_Ok, go two doors down and choose the green door with the stripes. Afterwards, you will go into the stairway and go down six levels down. Take a left off the elevator and go to the purple door, also known as number two. That is the design room where you'll find the information. Their building's cameras are triggered by sound, so be sure to be very quiet in your movements."_

I showed Angela to follow me using my finger and she nodded. Thank goodness she trusts me as much as I trust her.

I have to admit, I'm freaking out about being here. I mean, this is where it all started, right? Rather, me. Er…us. Damnit. I am a nervous wreck and need to pull myself together or else we're doomed.

We got off the elevator and to the design room's door. This is it. I look at Angela and I can see the same turmoil/excitement going on within her. I squeezed her hand in comfort and she reciprocated.

I opened the door.

Inside, we saw many lab workstations. There were a lot of computers and a few "beds" that looked like capsules. Maybe that's where they store bodies? I went quickly to one of the computers and started uploading the hard drives to my large capacity USB stick. I suppose I could just remove the hard drive but that would take too much time and effort plus it would be extra baggage.

"_Good work so far. Hurry up, you don't have much time."_

Shoot, I almost forgot he could talk to me.

And then, I saw it. Wow. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I went through a glass door. Angela was right behind me. Inside, we saw tanks of…parts. Human parts. Arms, legs, hands. You name it, they got it. I couldn't browse at their eye section, that was just too weird.

"Strange, isn't it?" A voice called out that was totally not in my head.

I turned around. "What? Who are you?"

"I suppose I should introduce myself. I already know who you are and what you have become. I am Carlisle Cullen and this is my compound. You and Angela were 'born' here. Those 'parts' you are looking at are organically grown simulations of human parts."

I kept the camera rolling.

He went on. "I am a creator. You are my children, among others. You see, we infiltrated an experiment project the Volturi Brothers began to create weapons of destruction. They could use humanoids, or engineered humans, to do anything they wanted. Rob a bank, build an army...etc. Oh yes, they had big plans for you. If we hadn't gotten to you in time, they'd have an army by now. The only thing a humanoid can't do is become pregnant and give birth."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was abducted by abductors? I wasn't safe with Jasper? Ok, Maria's just a bitch but….Jasper?

"You were sent to the outside as an experiment to see how you'd fare in a normal human environment. We studied your every movement. Phil followed you around after Jake started developing feelings for you. I couldn't let that happen. It gets in the way of safety."

I am an.…experiment? Not a human being? I was created originally as a weapon?

"_Keep rolling the camera. This is good information." Jasper said._

Carlisle continued. "I know you are filming me, by the way. I have been around for a very long time and know the business inside and out. The hard drive you uploaded doesn't have what you came here for. Everything being transmitted to the satellite for the recording and photos will be scrambled. The only reason Jasper can see and hear me is because I'm allowing it."

He knows Jasper?

"Yes, Jasper was created at the same time you were but by Maria. We weren't able to get to him before Maria kidnapped him. James was a lab assistant at that time and helped her.

Bella, we would not do any harm to you. You have to know that. I know you feel it. Just because you're a humanoid doesn't mean you don't have feelings. The only difference between you and the rest of humanity is where and how you were born."

"But…" Geez, that sounds intelligent. I am at a total loss for words. Thank goodness Angela isn't.

"How do we know you're telling us the truth? What if you're making all of this up to sell out Maria and Jasper?" She asked. She had a good point.

"Because I know, if you look into your early memories, you'll remember me. Normally, human children don't remember anything before they're 3 years old at the earliest but you both are capable of recalling things even from the womb, as I like to call it. Think of what I used to say to you."

I started thinking about it and realized he was telling me the truth. He would recite poems to me in different languages or tell me stories of his life before creating humanoids. Wow, what a difference it makes when you try to remember something instead of taking it for granted it's there to access.

"I remember." I said. I looked at Angela and saw a look of comprehension and memory on her face, too.

"_Bella, do you really believe that?"_

"Yes, Carlisle, I believe you. But, what happened at the bar on the night you kidnapped us?" I asked.

"Ah, yes. We were ready to have you come back here, home, with us for further study once you've gained enough outside human experiences. However, since Jake fell in love with you, he didn't want to have to do it and we had to eventually fight him in order to bring you back. He created his own organization by then, calling themselves "The Pack" and that's how he knew Paul and Seth."

Oh. I guess that makes sense.

He went on. "Unfortunately, while we were watching you in Phoenix, we weren't guarding Angela well enough and that's when Maria was able to get to her and recruit her as a spy. She did as she was told ever since because she believed the lies they told her. It's not her fault for believing them."

"So, what happens now?" I asked.

"Well, you have a choice to make. You're certainly welcome here to stay but I would discourage you from going back to Maria's. Jasper is welcome to come here too. I'd love to have him join us. If you choose to leave, we will still try and protect you from Maria and The Volturi Brothers as we have while you've been growing up and living your life."

I looked at Angela and had a silent conversation with her. "Carlisle, could you leave us to talk? Somewhere private, perhaps?" I requested.

"Of course. Let me show you to a conference room. I have to warn you, though. All of our rooms have hidden cameras that record everything. We also can hear your mind. Well, Angela's anyways. Something was different with Bella's programming."

Well, that's somewhat of a relief. Wait, then how can I hear Jasper? Oh right – I can hear them but they can't hear me. That makes sense.

Carlisle let us to a fancy schmancy conference room. There were wood panels that you know were hiding the latest and greatest electronic equipment. There was a strange track lighting setup with automated window blinds that could be managed via a light switch. I realize the window blinds aren't state of the art technology but c'mon. Some things are just fun to play with when a person gets bored. Ok, enough stupidity.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked her.

"I want to believe him, but what if it's a way to coerce us into helping him versus Maria? Some things make sense but others do not."

"What doesn't make sense to you?" I asked.

"Well, why did they think it was okay to take us in the first place? What were they doing with the Volturi? And, how do they know Maria?"

Hmm, very good questions indeed. "You have to admit, though. Maria has always been secretive and she's seemed to always want to "use" us versus just accepting us to join her. Carlisle seems to just want us to stay here without asking for anything in return. I'm just glad not to be in the dark like a hibernating bat anymore."

"You have a good point. That is true. However, what if the whole idea is to lead us away from Maria so she has less help in an attack? You have to admit, she has provided us with food, shelter and training. How do we know Carlisle will allow us to just 'be' and not study us? I think we need to find out some more before I can fully believe Carlisle." She said.

As if on cue, the door opened.

Mr. Hot Agent Cullen himself came in. He stared at me like a man living in a desert dying of thirst and I was an ocean. Creepy. But, he's still really hot. As if knowing what I was thinking, he licked his pink lips and they seemed to have turned into a red color. Like, really red. The kind of red lips you normally see on a teenage boy or after a mouth is swollen from a major kiss. That is what lipstick manufacturers try and replicate but they never will.

"Allow me." He said, after finally looking away.

"Carlisle was with the Volturi Brothers before they became corrupt. Originally they were just interested in the science of creation because it would remove so many things, like diseases, genetic flaws…etc. However, when they were thinking to create an army instead, Carlisle took action. He knew there was no talking them out of it.

Carlisle will let you 'be' if that's what you really want. There's no ulterior motive other than to keep you safe from Maria's manipulation. We stay away from attacks and only defend ourselves if attacked." He kept going.

"Maria was one of their scientists. She knew of some of the work but not everything. The Volturi, even up to now, have been paying her to bring as much detail as possible but I do know she's been holding out on them. We've been protecting you from them for as long as possible. Clearly you know the rest. Do you have any other questions?"

Like an idiot, I just stared at him. What is so freaking wrong with me?

"_Ask him about me. Why wasn't I brought back if they'd love to have me?"_

So I did. "Why didn't you rescue Jasper from Maria? Wasn't he important enough, too?"

Hot Agent Cullen sighed. "We tried to, actually. He was on a mission to infiltrate our compound and had a love affair with another agent of ours, Alice. She tried to get him to join us but he wouldn't. Jasper ended up believing Maria over us no matter how much proof was presented. When Jasper went back to Maria's compound, she found a way to erase everything Alice told him and what we showed him. I don't know how she did it. We haven't been able to get back to him since and try again."

Well, that answers that. Poor Jasper. I wonder why he went back to Maria.

"Why wouldn't you tell me what was going on when I first arrived here?" I asked.

"Would you have believed me?" He retorted. Hmm, he's right. I probably wouldn't have.

"HAC, could you leave us for a few minutes?" I asked.

"HAC? What does that mean?" They both asked.

Shit, I didn't mean to say that aloud. Do I not think like, ever?

"Um, don't worry about it. It's nothing bad, I promise." I said.

"You can just call me Edward." He said.

"_You are telling me what HAC means when I see you next." Jasper was relentless when it came to extracting information._

Hot Agent Cullen left the room with a smirk. I almost believed he knew but wanted to get me to say it. Never, no way, uh-uh. Don't think so, babe. Thank goodness they can't hear my mind. I am so glad I have a glitch. Wait, that came out wrong. Focus, Bella!

Angela turned to me. "Well, what do you think?"

"Hmm, well we now have answers. The question is, do we believe them?"

"What does Jasper say?" She asked.

I hadn't thought about asking him, actually. He'd always treated me with respect and has been behind me in whatever decisions I made. "I don't know. Jas, what do you think?"

"_Well, it's a lot to take in, certainly. It seems like a lot of conspiracy theory. Remember what I taught you about coercion?"_

"I do. But, this seems more like the truth than coercion." I replied. Angela looked at me funny.

"Oh, I'm replying to Jasper, Angela."

"Oh." She said.

The Cullens made very good points. I believe them. I don't think they're using coercion tactics. Angela agreed with me.

We asked HAC, I mean, Edward, and Carlisle to come back into the room.

"We'd like to take you up on your offer to stay. However, we don't want to become guinea pigs and be studied constantly. We want more detailed information on the lives you lead here, also."

"Fair enough." Carlisle said.

He went on. "You can study whatever you'd like. We have an advanced college here that's better than any Ivy League education. You have an option of becoming a scientist or whatever else you'd like to study and work as. You can even take classes in dancing, if you're interested. Alice loves to shop so she works as a clothing designer. Have you ever heard of Pixie Designs?"

My eyes went wide. Pixie Designs? No. Way. Now, I'm not all that into shopping but everyone has heard of Pixie.

"_I think I'd like to come and talk to them again. Could you ask them if it's alright?"_

"Jasper wants to speak with you again and is asking if it's alright." I said.

"Of course, we'd love to have him. But, I do want to do one thing. There's a way to reprogram him so he cannot have anything erased. If he doesn't believe us, then Maria can't rid him of the information entirely if he ever has his doubts. And, I'm sure Alice misses him."

My heart dropped when he said this. Am I jealous? Why should I be jealous? Did I love Jasper?

"_Bella, I need to tell you about Alice when I see you next, either here or there. I will follow you wherever you go."_

Well, I didn't expect that. But will he feel the same once he sees Alice again? I know I do have feelings for him but I'm not sure how deep they run.

Once we decided to stay, we barraged Carlisle with more questions.

"So why were we in Forks?"

"Actually, I am from there and am familiar with it. I grew up in Forks and left to go to college in Italy. We didn't have to talk anyone into taking you as their own since Renee couldn't have children and I offered you for her to adopt. A private adoption, of course.

Unfortunately, Renee was not as responsible as she appeared to be when we made the arrangement. As you're aware, she left you when you were a toddler with Charlie."

"How did you know Renee couldn't have children?" I asked.

He squirmed in his seat. Ugh-oh. "Well, I dated Renee for a while in high school. We didn't really part on the best of terms and she started dating Charlie as a rebound. I always felt sorry for him. He would've gone to the moon if she asked for it but, in the end, he wasn't who she wanted. He looked down as if remembering their time together.

"She developed a tumor in her ovaries and had to have them both removed. Luckily, the cancer was caught in time and only affected her reproductive system. I don't think she saw it as positively as I did. The surgeon made a vertical incision in her torso and, afterwards, it turned into a thin white line. She hated looking at that reminder."

"What about me?" Angela asked.

"Your parents were a little more difficult. They wanted money after raising you for the first couple of years. We eventually saw they were treating you poorly and I'm not sure I want to know the full extent of what happened to you but I do know they threatened to hurt you and expose what they knew of us unless we gave them more. Suffice to say, we paid them off but then stopped when they just kept asking for more and more. We then just started your physical protection. They were bad people and, by giving them more money, it turned them into even worse people. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Once I find out how Maria erased some of Jasper's memories, perhaps I can do the same for you? If you'd like?" He offered.

"Let me think about it. Sometimes it's good to learn from experiences, pleasant or not." She replied.

Ang and I were shown to our living quarters by Esme. It was nice but about the size of a studio apartment. Granted, it's not like we're going to entertain people anytime soon. In one room, we had two full sized beds. There were built in shelving & drawers. The other room held a kitchen/bathroom. It was all very…white. Esme brought a remote-looking thing and asked us how it should be painted. Fuck me sideways, she started pressing buttons and the place had all the colors we wanted. It was fucking fantastic!

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**Thank you for your kind words! Let me know what you think. I'll have another update this Saturday.**


	7. Chapter 6: Bringing Jasper In

**Disclaimer on profile.**

**I'm warning you now - this is my attempt at a lemon. Attempt being the key word.**

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**Chapter 6: Bringing Jasper in**

I went to get Jasper from the airport. I had a feeling we needed to have a long talk before I brought him to Carlisle. I smiled when I saw him step off the airplane. He had to take a plane because the helicopter was still there, waiting for us to return. He smiled back at me.

He was wearing a white button down shirt and the collar was sticking up from his navy blue sweater. He finished it with denim jeans and his favorite cowboy boots. Could a man look any hotter?

Unexpectedly, he pulled me into a big hug and then gave me an amazing kiss. He started out slow with closed mouth kisses but then his tongue gradually came out of his mouth and started seeking mine. Our tongues danced. There was no battle. His tongue was so soft and gentle, just like our first kiss. We melted into each other and embraced just being together. Before long, we had to break apart. We needed to talk. And breathe.

We sat on a bench far enough away from other people. I began speaking.

"I've missed you. I'm so glad you're here."

"Me, too. I hope everything they say is true. I just want you to know that nothing changes between us. I want our relationship to grow and become something great. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before, including Alice. You are so important to me and I care so much about you." He said.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that. I agree wholeheartedly and feel the exact same way. I'm glad you want to give us a chance. Let's go find Carlisle."

Carlisle was waiting for us at the front entryway. I was given a tour of the compound before I went to go get Jas and came to find that it has a lot of personality in many areas. The only sterile looking areas were where we were. Apparently Esme, Carlisle's wife, is an amazing interior designer. It is honestly very warm and inviting. I am definitely not using that freaking pothole again, which I came to find out that it wasn't a security flaw but actually a trap. They have special sensors and extra security that was turned off because of who we were. They were watching our every move once we entered the compound. Go figure.

Jasper's POV

Bella drove the motorcycle while I held on tight to her and it felt so nice, so right. I'm praying she can't feel the tightness in my jeans that I've had ever since I walked off the plane. She's gotta be the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.

When we arrived, I walked in with Bella and there was a blonde man waiting for us. He looked somewhat familiar but I couldn't place him at all. He introduced himself as Carlisle Cullen. I can't believe Maria would erase my memories like that! I feel so violated. It makes me wonder why I ever went back to her after learning the truth.

We walked into a conference room. I asked for Bella to stay. I felt safe with her, I don't know why. Carlisle explained everything the same way to me as he had done with her and he sounded genuine. I have no doubt he is telling me the truth.

"Carlisle, I have one more question."

"Yes?"

"Why do you think I left to go back to Maria previously?

"She took you away when she found out I was leaving and taking the project with me to save the creations. You didn't remember us from when you were a baby previously and I think you had a complex mother/son relationship with her. To you, she's all you've ever known and it probably scared you." He explained.

Interesting. I'll have to think about that. I nodded. "Carlisle, I'd like to stay here, if the invitation is still on the table." He gave me a big smile.

"You are most certainly welcome here."

He showed me to my room, if you could call it that. It was a single, which meant it was a compact living space. I'm betting they built this place to be as efficient as possible. The walls were a pale blue color. The full sized bed resided behind the dresser in the wall until it was brought down and there was also a set of drawers built into the wall next to it. I saw clothes rolled up already in there. There was a sink, toilet and shower on the other side with large and small wood cabinets. There was a white mini fridge next to the sink. As tiny as it was, it served its purpose. Esme told me that Bella painted it. I hope she didn't pass out from the fumes.

Bella & Angela were staying in the room next door. I really wanted to share a space with Bella, though. Being alone was making me kind of nervous. I really didn't want to see this Alice person, either. I love Bella. I know it's too soon to tell her, though. She's just not ready to hear it.

It got hot in here, so I took off my shirt and sweater and changed into a shirt I found in one of the drawers. Strange how it fits me perfectly. Did they know my size or something before I got here? I soon fell fast asleep thinking happy thoughts of me and Bella at the meadow with the creek.

I woke up to loud knocking on the door. Aren't there doorbells or something?

I answered the door and a small girl smiled up at me. She seems kind of familiar but I am drawing a blank to figure out her name. Just as soon as I said "Hello" to her, she wrapped herself around me tightly and screamed "Jasper! You're here! I am so glad you're safe!"

"Who are you?" I asked with one of my brows raised.

Her face fell slightly but then brightened back up. "I'm Alice, silly! Carlisle told me about Maria erasing your memories. I'd like to start making new ones with you, though!"

This is Alice? I don't feel anything with her like I did the first time I saw Bella.

_Flashback_

_She was shown in and had a blindfold on. I could still tell that she was absolutely beautiful. I stayed back in the shadows while Maria introduced herself. I cringed when Maria slapped her but she needed to understand how Maria was upfront and how to behave around her. She has to be obedient at all times around her._

_When she left to be shown her room, I missed her already. What was wrong with me? I just saw her for the first time! Love at first sight does not happen! I need to stay distant for all of us to stay on task and not get sidetracked._

_End Flashback_

"Um, ok, I guess." I saw movement in the hallway and saw Bella standing there. I saw her shed a tear as she ran back to her room. Shit, what have I done?

I turned back to Alice. "Um, Alice? I need to go talk to Bella. I'll see you later?" I took off before I heard her reply. Fuck my life!

I knocked on Bella's door furiously and Angela opened it. "What the fuck have you done?" she asked.

"I really need to talk to Bella. I think she misunderstood what she saw."

"Yeah, I don't think so. First of all, she comes in crying about how you had Alice's body wrapped around yours while she was right _there_ and you told her you wanted to get back with her? Spare me the fucking details."

I was taken aback – Angela had never sworn around me. Bella must be in really bad shape. All because of me. What an idiot I am.

"Please Angela, I need to see her. I need to apologize and explain that it isn't what she thinks it is. I have no romantic interest in Alice. She wrapped herself around me in an initial hug and I wasn't expecting it. I never told her I wanted to get back with her. She wanted to get to know each other again and I figured we can still be friends. Alright?"

"Is that true?" Bella's voice called out and she finally appeared at the bedroom's doorway.

"Of course it's true. How can I love another?"

"What did you say?" she asked with her eyes wide.

Shit, what did I say? I finally registered what she was talking about.

"Um, well, that's not how I intended for you to find out but yes, I do love you. I have ever since I saw you when you arrived at Maria's."

"Actually, that's not true." Carlisle's said out of nowhere. When did he arrive?

"What?" We both turned out heads and asked.

"You see, you were both created at the same time and, as babies, developed a bond with each other before Bella was sent to live at Renee's and Jasper was taken by Maria. I didn't know you'd retain it but it makes sense that you did." He continued.

"So, we basically mated each other as babies?" Bella asked.

"I guess you can look at it that way." He said.

I looked at Bella. "I cannot love another the way I love you. Even if you don't say it back to me, just know that I do love you." She started crying again and I don't know what to do to get her to stop! So, I pulled her to me and kissed her.

Cliché, but effective.

Bella's POV

He kissed me with so much passion I thought I would pass out from its intensity. Wow. Just, wow. I silently asked Angela to give us some space and she nodded at me and left, along with everyone else. I saw Alice out of the corner of my eye and she looked so heartbroken. I felt bad for her but Jasper is definitely my man. Don't you be messing on my territory. Wait, what? My man?

Focus Bella! Focus on this beautiful man kissing you senseless.

He has such amazing kisses. He backed me toward the bed and sat down on it and I straddled him. He kissed me on my lips, down my jaw and that sweet spot right behind my ear. He sucked on my ear lobe. Like, a lot. It was maddening. I gave him many little kisses, too. I took off his tight black t-shirt and took a good look. Fuck, he was ripped. I always knew he was good looking but damn! He had a freaking 8 pack! I pushed him to lay on the bed and I kissed him everywhere on his chest and neck. He put his hand in my hair and just stroked it. His other hand went up and down my arm. It felt so nice…I felt so loved. He pulled me back to kiss my lips some more.

All of a sudden his hands went to my ass and started massaging it. I automatically started to grind into him.

"Ugh Jasper, keep going. That feels incredible."

"Not as incredible as you, darlin'."

I stopped his movement and had him stand up. He looked like a boy who lost his puppy. Damn his eyes are adorable.

I shed his pants quickly. He understood right away. "Darlin', you don't have to. We can stop if you want. I don't want to pressure you."

As if.

I looked up at him and pleaded for him to understand that I want this. That I want him. Forever. He nodded.

I bent my knees back down to the floor and caressed him through his boxer briefs. I slowly moved the boxer briefs down and circled my tongue on his head. He tasted so good and he stood at attention like a soldier. I've never done this before, so I hope I do it right. He closed his eyes and threw his head back. By the sounds he was making, it sure sounded like he was enjoying himself.

I very slowly started licking up and down the shaft, caressing his hairless balls lightly. He shivered and looked down at me with a smile. I could see it in his eyes, he was so happy to be here with me and I saw the depth of his love shining in them.

I moved my mouth to enclose all of him in me and started going in and out. It was hard (pun intended) and I had to work on breathing through my nose. No way it was going to work otherwise. I gagged a few times starting out but finally figured out how to do it. He was so patient with me. I wonder how many women he's been with?

Focus, Bella! Am I seriously thinking about him being with other women while he's looking at me with this much devotion?

I started lightly squeezing his balls a little more and even licked them on my way down his shaft. Or is it up his shaft? It's where the balls and dick meet, so call it whatever you think it's called. I'll just call it the Joint Forces of Jasper.

He really liked the licking at the JFoJ. I took one ball into my mouth and sucked on it. Damn, the sounds he was making were turning me on so much!

I finally figured out what I needed to do. While I was taking him in and out of my mouth, I stroked that little area between his balls and his butt hole. Yep, that did it. He came so fast that I think an Olympian would wage an excellent competition. Ok maybe not but you get the idea.

His eyes widened and he threw me on the bed. He took my shirt off (which, thankfully, had no buttons) and started kissing me everywhere. Apparently he has an affinity to where my collarbone meets my neck. Maybe he was a vampire in his previous life?

He licked all around my breasts and then slowly started sucking my nipples, one at a time of course. It got me thinking about whether they should've or even could've created him with two mouths. Weird thought, I know.

"Jasper, that feels amazing." He was alternating between biting and sucking me. He started kissing me down to my belly button. I never thought of that as an erogenous zone but whatever. It felt really nice. I didn't realize my pants were off until he was pulling my smurfs underwear down with a smirk. Couldn't I have worn sexier underwear? Hindsight and all…

Focus, Bella! Is this really the time to think about my underwear with little blue smurfs on it and smurfette winking on the hips?

He started to lick my lower lips up and down. He did this strange but erotic twisty roll thing with his tongue. It was all over the place. He even tried to lick the part of me between my butt hole and vagina but that's kind of gross so…

"No, don't go there. That's icky." I'm pretty sure I sound like a 5 year old. Fuck.

He laughed and continued the twisty roll thing on my thighs, going down and then back up. He looks so sexy with his eyes filled with such happiness. I know that's so cheesy to say but seriously. It's the little things that I notice, you know?

All of a sudden I feel him aggressively sucking and biting my clit. When did he find that? Fuck, that's incredible. I started to tingle _everywhere_ and my clit started to throb_._ This must be what an orgasm feels like. Yeah, that's right. I've never had one before. Clearly you know I'm a virgin, so what makes you think I've orgasmed? I thought they were fucking myths.

All of a sudden, I couldn't take it anymore and pulled him into a kiss. He seemed confused that I didn't let him finish but I seriously needed him inside me. I had to know what the hell that feels like. What if he didn't want to go further after he made me orgasm? I can't take any chances that he'll be too tired. Ok that's a load of crap. I'm just too impatient is all it comes down to.

"Please, I want you inside me." I wanted more and more of him until we were one. He looked at me like he was asking permission one last time.

As if. Again.

I rolled my eyes and moved my hips up. He moved his penis up and down my slit to wet it down, I guess, since there was no lubricant or whatever. Yeah I have watched a little porno. Sue me.

It's times like this where it's good knowing I don't need to be on birth control or use a condom comes in handy. I want to feel him entirely.

He started slowly penetrating me and I couldn't take it anymore.

"Just shove it in there already! I need to feel all of you, now!" I demanded. Do I sound like a bitch? I can't bring myself to think about that now. Maybe later.

And…boom! He pushed into me quickly and stayed still although I didn't feel anything break – can women normally feel their hymens breaking? I would think so. Damn he's fucking huge. He's gotta be at least 8 inches. He definitely feels like a big cucumber or ear of corn, not that I've practiced or anything. I began to adjust to his size.

"Ok, I think it's safe to say you can move now."

He rolled his eyes and moved in and out slowly again. I suppose it's ok for now because it fucking hurts still but I didn't want him to know that because he might stop. Is it like this for all virgins or am I just too sensitive? Whatever. Focus, Bella!

I finally couldn't take the slowness anymore. "Please, faster!"

I didn't need to ask twice. He sped up.

I started watching him go in and out, just astounded by the process. I felt the tingling again and my clit started to throb incessantly. All of a sudden, I screamed and I felt a ton of water or liquid coming out of me while he was still pumping me and I just felt…euphoric. I am so grateful orgasms are not myths.

I looked up at him. He still had that look of happiness and I am so glad it's because of me. It is because of me, right? He better not be thinking of anyone else!

"You are so beautiful." He said. Ok, it is because of me. Yay!

He brought my legs up to his shoulders and started pumping fast and hard while sucking hard on my nipples to the point of pain. It felt like he was hitting all my insides this way. He was pounding into me while grabbing onto my thighs and we were both panting and breathing for dear life. Note to self: I like the pounding. We'll have to do that again. Soon.

"Scream it, Bella. I want everyone in this fucking compound to know just how much fun we're havin'. I want you to scream into tomorrow." This is impossible since all the rooms can be soundproofed, like ours is right now but he doesn't need to know that.

He started moving my clit back and forth after pushing up on it with his thumb. That whole tingling made me fucking explode. Again. I could feel myself squeezing him and maybe I'm somehow talented to be able to do this? Can all women do that or only me? Is that in my programming?

I yelled his name out at the same time he yelled mine. At least, I think it was my name he yelled out. It was more like a grunt type sound, like an animal, into my shoulder and then bit it. He bit me? That is hot. Should it worry me that I like being bitten?

All this wetness came out of me (again!) and some white stuff came out of him. At first I think, holy fuck – maybe they made us wrong. We shouldn't be leaking as much as this because the pornos only show a little wetness. But then he brought his mouth down and started sucking it all in. He came up and kissed me. I could taste it all with my tongue. I can't say it tastes as great like a cream filled strawberry crepe roll – it's pretty bland, actually - but very erotic. Neat!

Neat? I am such an idiot sometimes. More like fucking amazing. I have to tell him.

"That was amazing! Can we do it again?" I asked.

"That was out of this world, darlin'. You want another go? You're not sore? Even a little bit?"

"Hmm, now that I think about it, can we get something to eat real quick and then do it again?"

"Of course. Let's get dressed and go." He said.


	8. Chapter 7: Mission, Part I

**Chapter 7: Mission, Part I**

Jasper and I became almost inseparable after that. Either he was horny or I was. We couldn't get enough of each other. I think we've fucked on every surface of our living space. We were addicted to each other. I don't think this is healthy but I'm fucking enjoying it so fuck off if you don't like it. We even moved in together, too. I couldn't move into his place and Ang was still at ours, so Esme had us go to a room down the hallway. So, we'd be somewhat close to Ang but not too far away. Thank goodness this place has more living spaces for future uses (can anyone say Build-A-Family? Come on, I know you want to). I finally showed him how I like to "paint" and decorate our room. He kept laughing and told me how worried he was about me inhaling paint fumes.

Speaking of paint, I've let my hair go back to a long wavy brown with light reddish blonde highlights. I'm tired of the gray streaks, for now. I may eventually bring them back or try another color. But, for now, it'll be all natural.

Anyways, we took some classes at the college here together. The classes are very intense and you can get a degree within a few months because you literally live and breathe school. I decided to go into medicine and hopefully become a scientist like Carlisle. Jasper is really good at fighting and strategy, so he decided to go into security (go figure). We were learning a lot and did our homework together, although a lot of our knowledge was coming in through lab work and hands on experience. They have this Star Trek hologram room where it makes you think you're somewhere else. The imagery is amazing. It's really easy to get lost in it. It helps him research different scenarios and create strategies. It's also a great place to hide out and 'escape.'

I've seen Alice around somewhat but very rarely. She always has this sad look on her face. I'm trying to keep my distance as well, just in case she turns out to have a diabolical plan to take Jasper away from me. Ok, I know I sound paranoid but shit, wouldn't you? She's pretty though, so I doubt she'll have to wait long to find someone else to love her. I haven't seen HAC around, either. I mean, Edward. He's still hot, don't get me wrong, but he's no Jasper.

Jas and I have a lot of fun with Angela, who met this guy Ben, a human, at the compound. Actually his full name is Benjamal Shag Nguyen-Hajreen. It was either call him Ben or Shaggy. I really wanted to call him the latter but Ang told me not to. Dammit. He's cute though. Tan skin, about 5'5", a round babyface that is incapable of growing any facial hair and absolutely perfect for Ang. She's only slightly taller than he is.

He grew up here. His parents are engineers who have been working for Carlisle since this place was built. How did he get his name? His father is Cambodian and his mother is from Zimbabwe. He lives a few doors down from our area, apart from his parents. He is kind of geeky but really nice. He treats her well and she isn't the crazy wild bitch that she has been while we were in the band. It's almost as if she's reverted back to shy girl. BUT. The wildness comes out when we go dancing. What's funny is that he's as non-wild as it gets. Ang will turn that around, I think.

Ah, yes. Did I mention this compound has fucking everything? There are dance clubs and shopping. You name it, they have it. It's like a little city. It's even bigger than Forks! Ok granted that's not hard but still. I don't feel so confined because of the size, you know?

It's now been about a year that we've relocated here. I like it but am itching to get out and travel a bit. Carlisle rang me and asked me and Jas to meet with him at his office right away. We sat down and waited for him to begin.

"Hello, you two. I'm sure you've been wondering about other humanoids we have created. There is a woman who is missing. She is a humanoid and is with a human man. I don't know why they're missing, just that they are. I would like for you and Jasper to find them and bring them back here to safety. You two are the best field ops I have based on your field experience and programming."

Say what?

He went on.

"I think a month will be long enough. Classes are over in a couple weeks and then you'll have your degrees. I'd like you to go then. What do you think? Are you willing to do this?"

We both nodded. "Of course. We'll need more information and create a logistical plan but I think we're ready." Of course, I'm doing a happy dance and this is going to be a great adventure! Leave it to Jasper to think clearly and develop a plan while I'm excited about just going out and having fun.

"Their names are Rosalie and Emmett. Maria has been trying to find them as well and they seemed to have dropped off the radar. Even Rosalie's homing device isn't working for us. We found it at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."

"I didn't know we had a homing device. That makes sense to be able to track us. Wait, if you knew where we were while at Maria's, why didn't you come get us sooner? And, what exactly did you find at the bottom of the ocean?"

"We had to wait for you to come to us. To come get you by brute force would've hurt someone on either side and I don't believe violence to be a method. I do not want to risk losing anyone. I knew you would come to us sooner rather than later. Your homing device is implanted in the back of your neck. You'd need someone to help remove it that knows what they're doing. Clearly he helped her but we don't know why."

"Oh. So, we have no idea where they are?"

"I'm afraid not. But I can give you details on what they look like and where we last saw them."

The next three weeks were spent getting ready for the trip and studying the retrieval plan. Apparently there's a way Carlisle thinks talking to them will help. He said that's the only way they'll come with us because it won't help to use force. However, worst case scenario, he gave us these cool looking guns that shoot out tranquilizers in case they get violent and misunderstand the reason we're there. It reminds me of the KGB – apprehend and _then_ ask questions. We learned how to use them and armor ourselves with other cool state of the art devices.

It was the night before we were set to leave and Jasper and I were in our room.

"Are you excited?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. But, also scared. What if something happens to you? There's a lot of danger that I have been thinking about lately. I couldn't imagine what would happen if you aren't in my life anymore. I couldn't live."

I don't think he's ever seen me this serious or sad.

"Nothin's gonna happen to me, darlin'. You make sure you're safe and I'll do the same."

I hope he's right.

Jasper and I left at 5am. I've decided I like the term dark o'clock better. He rolled his eyes at me when I told him that. So, being the adult thing that I am, I rolled my eyes right back at him.

Carlisle told us the last time he saw RoMet, as I have affectionately started to call them, they were in San Francisco. So, we decided to start there. We took his private jet because, really, who wants to stand in those security lines while they check my flip flops? Oh and because of the crazy spy shit in our suitcases. With my luck, they'll randomly choose my luggage to search. And that would be very, very bad.

He also gave us some background information. Rosalie had been created a couple years after Jasper and I. HAC & Alice were in between us.

RoMet had left the compound when they were both 17 last year, so they'd had a good amount of training and knowledge to survive outside of the compound. In fact, they were in California because Rosalie wanted to go shopping for something other than Pixie designs. Her closet was full of them and she wanted a change. We also learned Emmett has an addiction to pancakes. I'm not sure why Carlisle thought this would be useful to know. I mean, would they seriously hang out in a pancake house? Apparently Rosalie loves sushi, too. There's got to be a method to his madness.

We first stopped at our hotel. San Francisco is quite large, so we'd need a few days to collect information.

Then we started visiting all of the pancake houses (Jasper's idea) with their pictures. Amazingly enough, one of them remembered him. After seeing his picture when Carlisle gave us their profiles, I understood why. I'd remember him, too. Emmett is huge. He's 6'5" and got these cute little dimples on his cheeks when he smiles. He has wavy brown hair and is very muscular. I wonder how much he bench presses?

They used to come in a lot last year. The guy at the pancake place told us they told him they were taking a long vacation and were staying down the street at the Hotel Nikko. Jasper and I went there next.

Well, RoMet has good taste, I'll give them that. It's amazing. We walked in and we saw so many vibrant colors. Everything was decorated with modern style but in the way that it's classic. We went up to the desk and requested to speak with the manager. We sat in the lobby waiting for her. Oooh, the plush seats made me want to take a nice, long nap.

"Hello, I'm Victoria. Can I help you?" The manager said.

"Yes. We are looking for these people." We held up their photos. Her eyes widened a little and then she covered it up with a blank look.

"No, I've never seen them before. Are you with the police? Have they done something wrong?"

"No, they're just missing and we'd like to find them."

"I'm sorry; I haven't seen them here. Is there anything else? Perhaps I can assist in another way? Do you have any other information on them that I could use to help you?"

Now that was weird. Not even the pancake guy offered and he'd seen them before. I didn't have to see the look on Jasper to see he was suspicious, too.

"No, ma'am. We appreciate your time. Thank you." He said and shook her hand.

We walked out of the hotel and went to our own in silence. He walked fast and I thought maybe he was trying to avoid the looming inquisition. Once we arrived into our room, I was pissed.

"How could you let her go like that? You saw how she was hiding something!"

"Baby, have I ever failed you?" He asked.

I didn't even have to think about that. "No."

"So what makes you think I'll start now? I bugged her."

"What? How? When?" I asked.

"When I shook her hand, I used the mini shooting gun attached to my sleeve that can be activated by one of my fingers. All I have to do is point and curl my finger a certain direction and it sends a bug into her sleeve. Good thing she was wearing long sleeves today, huh?"

"You are a genius!" I exclaimed.

"Well, that's a mighty fine compliment. Especially because it came from you." He said.

Did I mention that I love him?

He got out one of our suitcases and went to a hidden compartment that even I didn't know about. He took out this mini stethoscope looking thing with an antenna. He gave me one side to listen to while he listened to the other.

Bingo. She was on the phone. The vocal clarity was amazingly sensitive. It was like she was right here with us.

"James, they were here. They're looking for them too. I was hoping they'd come back but it looks like they've split and aren't coming back. I don't know why. Do you think they know something we don't? Tell her, immediately. Don't waste any time. Ok, bye. Love you too."

Well that was news. I didn't realize James was involved with anyone. He always kept winking at me but Jasper made him keep a distance because it would "interfere" with our training. Huh. I think a light bulb just turned on above my head. Either Jasper has been possessive from the beginning or James is more dangerous than I thought.

So, now we knew Victoria is affiliated with James and Maria. Why and how is what I want to know.

We decided to break into Victoria's office as a starting place when she leaves for the night. Thankfully there's big corner window. However, we failed to remember we have no way to unlock the windows without breaking them. Shit.

"What do we do now?" I whispered.

"Hmm, I don't know. I'm thinking about all of the devices Carlisle gave us and am pretty sure none of them cover something as stupid as opening a window lock." He said.

How could we have not foreseen this? Seriously.

I looked at Jasper and he took off his shoe. He's not going to strip, is he? He got out a silver looking knife and put his shoe back on. What the hell was he going to do with a knife?

As if feeling my curiosity, he turned around and explained. "This is a special knife that can easily cut the wood panes. Once I take them off, I can just remove the window without breaking it and causing the alarm to go off and put it back on when we're done."

Well, that makes sense. He is so smart. And clearly resourceful.

So, we were in the office within 10 minutes. We started looking in the file cabinets, drawers, you name it. Nada. I was getting really frustrated. Partly because I didn't know what the hell we were looking for and partly because we weren't finding anything that could help us.

Cue the end of my frustration.

Jasper found a key on the back of one of her paintings. The ironic part is that the painting resembles Maria's compound. Why the hell didn't I think of that?

So, where does the key go?

"Does the key have any inscriptions?" I asked.

He looked at the key and nodded. "It's a key at a storage facility in Fremont by the look of the inscription. We'll have to rent a car and drive to it tomorrow."

"how do you know the storage facility is in Fremont?"

"Cause it says so." Wow, do I feel like an idiot. "Sound like a plan, then?" I nodded in agreement and to get the hell out of there.

The next morning, we rented an SUV because I didn't know how much stuff is in the storage locker. Better to be safe than stupid.

We arrived and went to the front desk. They had this little bell as we walked in to alert our presence. A big guy came in from the back. He was the kind of guy who looked like his name was Buffalo Bill – he gave me the creeps. "Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?"

Well, good thing manners and excellent customer service skills still exist in other areas. But, definitely not here. Yep, definitely not.

Jasper spoke up. "We have a key and were wondering if you could point us in the right direction of it."

"Oh, I thought you might have been with the fucking police from last week." Do I even want to know why the police were here last week? No.

"No, we are not with the police." Jasper said.

"Follow me." He said.

He led us outside and pointed to building that housed mini garages. Good planning on my part. Jasper wanted to rent a Ducati motorcycle.

We opened it once B-Bill left. We took a big breathe and released it when Jasper opened the door.

Inside, there were all kinds of documents and scientific supplies. I briefly wondered why Maria kept these documents here and then realized she probably didn't know Victoria had this place. We started searching through everything to see if we could find any traces of RoMet.

"I got it." Jasper announced. Finally!

"What did you find?" I asked.

"Pictures. Lots of pictures." He answered.

We grabbed them all. I took all the documents, too, just in case. There were quite a few boxes of those. We built up a sweat quickly and damn…Jasper looked good enough to eat. He had the whole country boy look down to a T. He had on a plaid shirt, worn jeans and boots. I couldn't think of anyone who looked better. Granted, I'm a tiny bit biased. Ok, maybe a lot biased.

Shit, what did he say? "What? Sorry, can you repeat that?"

He rolled his eyes. He knew I was eye-fucking him and was basking in my embarrassment.

"I said, while you were thinking whatever pervy thoughts that came to you, that we better head on back to the hotel and look through all this."

"Good idea. Let's stop for lunch first." I said.

We drove back to the hotel in silence. He tried to put on a country station but that shit wasn't happening. Just because I loved my country boy doesn't mean I like country music. At. All.

He didn't say anything when I turned to a classic rock station. Good boy.

We went to a pizza house for lunch. It was edible. That's all I can say about it. Granted, how could I hope to find good pizza in BFE, outside of Chicago or New York?

Out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw something I cannot believe. A stroke of luck! Emmett's picture is listed as employee of the week! I nudged Jasper and his eyes became wide with realization. Props to me, thank you very much.

I went up to the guy at the register and decided to ask about it.

"Hey there."

"How ya doin', gorgeous?" I think I heard Jasper growl a little. No, that couldn't be. Men don't growl. Only animals do that, right?

Focus, Bella!

"Um, fine thanks. Listen, I was wondering about this guy." I pointed to Emmett's picture.

"Oh, you mean Hank?"

Hank?

"Yes, Hank. Is he here today?"

"Actually I believe he went on vacation with his wife. They'll be back next week," he said.

Hmm. Is he trying to get me to come back? Yeah, I don't think so. I need to talk to Emmett/Hank NOW.

"Does he have a cell phone I can call? Perhaps you have a way to get in touch with him?"

"Well, that's against company policy. We can't just give out any employee's personal information. Why do you need to talk to him now? Can't you come back next week?"

Shit, he's got me there. I can't exactly tell him the truth. Luckily Jasper saw my dilemma and stepped in.

"Hey darlin', did you get your cousin's number?" I shook my head. He turned to register guy. "My _wife_ here lost contact with him and she'd really like to talk to him again. We're only in town until tomorrow before we have to go our home in _Texas_." He was really laying on the accent thick. I liked it.

"Your _wife_, huh? If she's your wife, then where's her ring?" He contested.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "It don't concern you. But if you really want to know, we got married in Vegas a couple nights ago and I want her to have a nice ring, not a plastic one. I'll get her one once we get back home." He gave me a sweet wink.

At this point Register Guy decided to help out though I think it may have been due from Jasper's death glare. "Sure, l-lemme go g-get it. S-Stay put." He stuttered out.

He came back a minute later and gave me a piece of paper with a number on it. He conveniently brushed his fingers with mine as gave it to me. Once again, I thought I heard a growl.

"Thank you." I said. Jasper led me back to the car without saying a word to RG.

We got back to the hotel after, again, driving in silence. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize we'd made it back to the hotel. Clearly, Jasper wanted to get back sooner rather than later.

When we arrived, Jasper attacked me. He pushed me up against the door once we entered out room and it was shut. I liked this animalistic Jasper. This is hot.

"You're mine. No one else's. You hear me? Say it!" He growled. Yep, I definitely heard him growl this time. I think my panties are soaking wet now.

"Yes, I'm yours. Only yours. Always yours." I replied.

After that, he started taking my shirt off. I thought he was going to rip it off. Damnit I like that shirt!

Cue the cockblocker.

"Well Jasper, I'm glad you found true love. Or maybe it's true lust?"

We turned our heads to the voice's direction.

Maria.

What the fuck was she doing here and how the hell did we not notice her there? Oh yeah, we were _busy_.

"Let me get to the point. I want you to come back to me. I know you're looking for Rosalie and Emmett. I want to find them too. We can be a happy family again with them added on. Wouldn't that be so nice?"

She pointed this green laser beam directly at our eyes. It started making my head hurt.

Jasper looked pissed. I've never seen him look so angry. I finally realized what she was doing. She was trying to control us and erase our memories of Carlisle so we'll go back to her! Nuh-uh bitch. Not this time.

"Maria, let me tell you a few things. First, you just interrupted me from what was going to be the most amazing fucking of my life. Second, you can't control us and erase our memories with that object. Third, there is no way we are fucking helping you find them." I said.

She looked stunned that we knew what she was doing and couldn't figure out how it wasn't working. I decided the less information that was given to her, the better. At this point she started looking around. She pulled a gun out and pointed it at Jasper.

She looked at me. "Don't move or you will surely regret it. Jasper is coming with me, end of story. If you ever want to see him again, you know where to find us."

I was torn between wanting to help but I wasn't sure how. It was a lose-lose situation. Jasper spoke up.

"Bella, let me go. Remember what I told you." Maria shot him with the tranquilizer gun and called out. James came rushing in and grabbed Jasper. He looked to me and Maria said, "No, I won't be able to reprogram her. Leave her here." And with that, they left. She's going to reprogram him?

I broke down and collapsed on the floor after they left. I don't know how long I cried but eventually did remember RoMet's number was in my jean's pocket. Maybe they can help me? Would they even want to?

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**RoMet to the rescue? What do you think? ;)**


	9. Chapter 8: Mission, Part II

**I have been writing like crazy and will be uploading chapters every two days (hopefully!) from now on.**

**Feel free to leave reviews and let me know what you think of the story so far.

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Chapter 8: Mission, Part II

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello."

"Who is this?"

"Um, my name is Isabella Swan."

"No, it can't be. Is this some kind of sick trick? Who are you?"

Emmett sounded pissed. This definitely isn't how I wanted our first conversation to be. Well, at least his picked up his phone. Gotta focus on the positives.

"Please, it is me. I know we've never met but I know you know who I am. Carlisle sent me and Jasper to find you but Maria has taken Jasper and now I need your help to get him back!"

"How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"I promise, it isn't. Please. I need your help."

He then proceeded to ask me a shitload of questions that only I would know. After he was finally satisfied that I am who I say I am, he agreed to meet with me. They were vacationing in Wisconsin Dells. There's a great (you guessed it!) pancake house called Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty.

I packed a bag, booked a ticket and took a deep breath. Time to get on a plane.

I walked in to this quaint restaurant with a giant statue of Paul Bunyan outside. It made me think I traveled back in time to the late 1800's. Everything was decorated to make the image fit. They had a little country store before you could get to the hostess. I saw the tables had old fashioned blue tin plates and cups made to look like from that time, too.

I heard him before I saw him. He had a big, booming voice. I turned around and looked up. Holy shit, he was huge. Probably about 6'6" and all muscle mass. A gorgeous woman was behind him. I knew Rose was beautiful but I didn't realize she was a walking supermodel that didn't need to be air-brushed. She had beautiful blonde hair – the color that woman try to buy to replicate but never can – and bright blue eyes. I think there may even be some green in them. I can't fully tell because it would be creepy to stare and that's not the first impression I'd like her to have of me.

"Isabella!" He yelled.

"Um, yeah? That's me." I barely squeaked out, due to him hugging all the breath out of me.

Rose surprised me by hugging me as well, although thankfully not as tightly. We sat down at the table and the waiter started bringing over this enormous meal of stacked pancakes, sausage links, scrambled eggs, biscuits, smoked ham and potatoes. This is a dieter's nightmare. The only thing the waiter asked us was what we wanted to drink.

I asked RoMet why they ordered so much food. Emmett's grin turned into a huge smile. He simply said "All you can eat buffet. OH YEAH." He looked like he was either going to shovel it into his mouth or vacuum it in.

"So, how did you find us?" Rosalie asked.

I went into the story of Victoria, the storage facility and Emmett's employee of the month photo. He wasn't surprised about the creepy register guy. I wondered if he ever came on to Rose. Probably.

Focus, Bella!

"Where did you just go?" He asked me while shoveling his food in his mouth.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You looked like you went to la-la land or were having an out of body experience." He smiled and winked at me.

Rose slapped him upside his head. We were both pretty disgusted with the food falling out of his mouth when he asked me that.

"Stop acting like a fool! We need to get down to business and help her save Jasper!" She looked pissed. Note to self: never upset Rosalie.

"Ok, honey. I love you." She melted. Ah, now I understand their dynamic.

Cue the waiter. He brought over a dish of…donuts? I am fucking stuffed! But guess what? Emmett ate our donuts for us…how sweet and thoughtful. Pun intended.

Since I had all of the boxes of documents and photos from the storage locker in my car, we flew back to San Francisco. Emmett wanted to detour at Minnesota's State Fair (even _I'd_ heard about it) but Jasper is way more important than a huge turkey leg, gigantic cream puffs and a bucket of cookies that melt so yummy... Maybe next year.

We went to my hotel room and brought in them in. We spent about three and a half hours looking through it before putting it down and taking a break.

"Shit this is taking forever. What have you got?" He asked me.

"Well, let's pool what we've found so far. From what I've gathered, it looks like Victoria was trying to group together all of the information Maria had on the creation project and any modifications. I found some letters between Victoria and the Volturi Brothers. It looks like she was going to sell Maria out," I said.

"Hmm, that's interesting. That makes perfect sense. I've found over here some pictures between good ol' Vicky and the brothers. It looks like this guy is in on it with her, too."

I turned to look at the photo he was showing me.

"James! He knows about all of this?"

They looked at me weird. "Who is James?"

I explained who he is and lightly skimmed over my time with Maria. They seemed angry about what I went through there, minus finding Jasper.

I've been hesitant to call Carlisle and update him with our progress. My gut was telling me it wasn't time yet. It's not that I don't trust him. No, it's because 1), I'd rather have more info than less to provide and 2), I don't want him to freak out and send agents to help us because they'd more than likely make things worse.

We took my SUV and started driving to Maria's compound in Texas because I didn't want to chance losing all of Victoria's stuff and there wasn't enough time to go back to Alaska first, even though it would've been ideal to get the documents there. I had to get Jasper back. That was my priority. Plus, RoMet seemed hesitant when I mentioned Carlisle's compound. I decided to get some answers.

"So, why did you guys leave Carlisle and stay away? Did you not like it there?"

Rose looked uneasy and started fidgeting with her hands. Emmett clenched his jaw. I was about to retract my question when she spoke up.

"We sta-" Emmett interrupted her.

"Rosie, you don't have to say anything. Bella won't be offended, right Bella?" He gave me this pointed glare that dared me to disagree. I wisely nodded.

"No, it's ok. I trust her." She said.

She continued on. "I was going through a very bad point in my life and started hating Carlisle for creating us. Sure, he gave us life but what kind of a life is it when you can't have children and you can't die? I made up the shopping trip as an excuse and we just stayed off radar. Emmett removed the homing device off my chip as soon as we got to California."

Wait, what? We can't die? Well, this is news.

"What do you mean, we can't die?" I asked.

"Didn't Carlisle tell you what we are?" She gave me a curious look. She didn't ask with malice in the question but there was venom in her tone when she said Carlisle's name.

"Well, he explained we are humanoids but I thought we are just created differently and then died naturally. I guess my assumption is incorrect, huh?" I sound like an idiot.

"That is correct. Did he tell you anything else?" She asked.

What more is there to know? I shook my head.

"Well Bella, it seems you have been kept in the dark, then. Let me tell you what Carlisle failed to mention. Perhaps Maria told you that you are special?"

I nodded.

"That is because you are the first humanoid that went passed beta testing. The Volturi Brothers created you and the scientist responsible for your creation mysteriously disappeared after Carlisle started asking questions. I don't know what his name is or was nor the reason for the quick departure. I don't know if he's still alive or dead. What I do know is that you were the only one he made. Angela, Edward, Alice and I were created by Carlisle."

"But Carlisle told me Jasper and I were created at the same time…" It came out sounding like question.

"That's partially true. Maria created Jasper while the other scientist created you. Once Carlisle found out the humanoid project was meant to start building an army, Carlisle took everything and brought it to his secret compound. It took Maria and the Volturi Brothers an intensive time period to even find it. The place is layered with security systems should it ever be attacked. Maria and the Volturi will not harm the place, however. They are too interested in the design and creation rooms to ever blow up the place. Also, because it wouldn't work. The compound was created to withstand any attack at all. But, that's another discussion."

"So, why am I special? Just because I was created first? How does that change anything?"

"Because you can do telekinesis, are a telepath and you are a mental shield."

Say what?

"You can't be serious. Why hasn't anyone said anything?" I asked.

"The only reason I know is because I studied Carlisle's documentation and what he knows of your creation, which is pretty limited. He knows your abilities but not how to replicate them. I became the second top scientist, next to Carlisle, while Emmett worked with Edward on the security system at the compound. They constantly work at doing anything that will enhance the security.

Anyways, ever since you came back to Carlisle's compound, I'm positive he kept studying you, to see if you'd realize it on your own. Have you ever tried to do anything with your mind? Move something? Make something happen? Push thoughts to another person? There's a reason no one can get into your mind. You were programmed as a shield; it protects you from mental invasions."

"No, I've never tried anything like that. Are you sure? I don't think that is the case. Jasper was able to talk to me in my head just fine."

"I am 100% positive. I don't have any of the documents about you but I can probably answer any questions you may have. As far as Jasper goes, you have a bond with him that allows you to hear him. He, however, cannot hear you unless you specifically allow it. You'd have to lower your shield. He can talk to you in your head because of a special chip – he also has one within himself but it's not as advanced as yours. The scientist who created you was light years ahead from anything we were capable of. Maybe even passed what we're capable of now.

The chip I'm referring to is also the same one they use as a homing device. It, obviously, has many uses and features."

This definitely would've been good to know when we were trying to get into Victoria's office through the windows. To think, I could've just asked the latch to open itself! Wait until Jas gets a load of this!

As soon as I thought of his name, I became sad. Who knows what Maria has done to him? Rose noticed my sad look and I think she understood. She left me alone with my thoughts.

We stopped at a gas station that was attached to one of those big tourist/traveler buildings. While Emmett was filling up the tank, Rosalie and I went into the gift shop and bought some sunglasses, hats and magnets. Apparently Emmett collects magnets.

We got back to the car and Rosalie started up the conversation again.

"Bella, can you give me my purse from back there?" Since I was in the back seat, I started to reach over toward the trunk but couldn't fully reach. I thought about what she said and closed my eyes, wishing the purse to come to my hand. It didn't work. After about three more tries, I felt it. I opened my eyes and the purse was laying in my hand. Holy shit.

"Do you believe me now?" She asked.

I nodded.

Emmett came into the car and looked at Rose's smug expression. "She tried it, didn't she…?"

Rose nodded. I looked at them sheepishly and smiled. Doing stuff with my mind fucking rocks!

"Ok, I want you to try telling me something in my mind." she said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Anything."

Hmm. _"How did you meet Emmett and when did you start dating?"_

She smiled. "Very good, Bella. We don't have time to go into that, though. And, it's kind of private for me. But congrats to the telepathy."

Honestly, I was pretty proud of myself. Who knew I could be so amazing? Certainly not me. I smiled right back at her.

Rosalie took out a mini CD from her purse. Is this some sort of gadget or spy thing made to look like a normal music CD? Turns out, it is a freaking normal music CD. Go figure. She popped it into the CD player and we got lost in 80's music. A song by John Parr came on and Rose turned to me and gave me this huge smile. She started singing.

_Don't tell me "I don't wanna be a girl like that"  
Do you wanna see a grown man cry?  
You don't wanna be a girl like that  
Baby this could be the first time (this could be the first time)_

I joined in.

_Naughty naughty, loud and bawdy, t-t-t-t-tease me  
Take it easy, hug and squeeze  
A naughty, naughty, naughty, I'm a naughty, naughty guy_

_Don't tell me "I don't wanna be a girl like that"  
Do you wanna see a grown man cry?  
You don't wanna be a girl like that  
Baby this could be the first time (this could be the first time)_

We kept singing until the end of the song. Emmett was amused and I think he even shifted a little but I could be wrong. For all I knew he could be farting up there, though I don't smell anything. Yet.

After the song was done, Rose and I high-fived and laughed together. That was fun. She looked like she hadn't had that much fun in a while. Not saying that Emmett wasn't fun but I think it has been too long since she's had a woman to have fun with. A woman needs women friends. It's about as necessary as the Earth's rotation. Duh.

I wonder if RoMet will ever want to visit me and Jasper at Carlisle's compound. Surely Carlisle would be ok with at least a visit if they choose not to stay? Maybe he'll even let them stay for good. Why send us to find them otherwise? Or maybe it was just to make sure they're alright because he was just worried about them?

Regardless, there were too many unanswered questions and the only thing I need to focus on is how to get the love of my life back.


	10. Chapter 9: Getting Jasper Out

**Chapter 9: Getting Jasper Out**

We arrived in a small town in the heart of Texas. Of course Maria would have her compound in a freaking hot as hell state. I swear you could fry an egg on your head. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but still. It's fucking hot.

Maria was clearly expecting us. I saw the security cameras move in our direction and the door opened to greet us to hell.

"Very well done, Bella. I see you've brought them right to me." Maria said.

"What are you talking about? Where is Jasper?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry about Jasper. I'd be surprised if he even recognizes you. He's perfectly happy here. Aren't you, Jasper?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper come out from the shadows. He had this curious but blank look on his face. Did he really forget me?

"I assure you, he's just fine. He just needed help remembering who he belongs to, much like yourself."

"I don't know what you're talking about but I think you and I can come to an arrangement."

"Really? What could you possibly have to offer me that I just can't take from you right now?"

"It seems you don't know your employees well enough. I can turn over evidence that Victoria and James have been fooling you and were going to turn over all of your design documentation to the Volturi Brothers."

She looked shocked. "You're lying. They would never do that."

"Want to make a bet? Before I give you _anything_, however, you must give Jasper's memory back to him."

"No. I'm afraid that can't be done. Once he's been reprogrammed, he becomes almost a blank slate. Because he'd been altered to not allow the memory erase, I had to get rid of everything. Essentially I wiped his mind and reloaded all of his original programming although I haven't gotten around to doing the upgrades & modifications. He has lost the things he's learned over the years, unfortunately, since the last backup. Apparently my _assistants_ forgot to do the backups on a regular basis. I found a way to implant a homing beacon a long time ago. It's much more advanced. I can call him home any time I want. Why do you think he came back to me all those years ago? His loyalty is assured. I can't give him to you. I won't."

Fuck.

All three of us were taken to a jail cell. I couldn't break it open. Apparently it was designed to be stronger than any humanoid. Fuck – just my luck!

I can't believe Jasper doesn't remember me. How could he not? Am I going to be the next Alice? Will I see him with another woman and remember what we had? Now I understand her pain, more than ever.

I heard the door open and lifted my head. Maria came in.

"How do I know you're telling me the truth about Victoria and James? What proof do you have?"

"Well Maria, did you go look for your design records? I'm sure they're quite important to you and quite missing. I have moved them from Victoria's location to my very own. Even Rosalie and Emmett do not know where they are. If you ever manage to wipe my memory, you will lose everything and I will have lost nothing."

I was bluffing, of course. RoMet knows exactly where they are.

She seemed shocked that I countered her. As if I'll ever give it to her anyways. She should know better than that but apparently being power hungry makes you slightly stupid.

"Give them to me." She demanded.

"Just for curiosity's sake, why do you even care? It's not like…" My eyes widened and I think a light bulb turned on. She needed her documentation to make more, she just didn't have all of the equipment and she wasn't smart enough to have made backup copies of it. I bet her _assistants_ didn't do the backups intentionally. "No. Turn Jasper over and let us go. No deal, otherwise."

"You will never leave here and never have Jasper back. I can assure you of that. Even if you leave here with him today, he will always come back to me. My beacon calls him to me every fucking time."

Fuck. I need to figure out either how to destroy her stupid beacon or remove it from his person. But, would he even allow it? Think, Bella.

"You'll stay here until you hand everything over. Enjoy your time. No me jodas!" _Don't fuck with me!_

Bitch. I'm going to destroy you and get my man back.

I fell asleep. I'm sure RoMet are trying to figure out how to get out of here but I am so emotionally drained right now. I'm ready to give up but I can't die, so what do I do now?

"Isabella? Is that your name?"

I snapped my eyes open. Is that….Jasper?

"Jasper? Is it really you?"

"How do you know me?"

My heart is breaking just hearing those words. What do I say to that? How do I explain it all? That's when I remembered Carlisle's words to me.

"Jasper, I want you to try something for me. Think in your mind. Try to remember who I am. See if you can remember anything from the past year. Please, just try."

He gave me a curious glance and then closed his eyes to try and remember. "No, you look somewhat familiar but I don't think we've ever spoken. I really think you should give Maria what she's asked for. It would only be beneficial to everyone involved. I'd hate to hurt you. You seem like a nice girl."

Hurt me? He's not serious, is he?

He left shortly after that. I couldn't take it anymore. I started crying. Maybe there's a way for a humanoid to employ madness as a coping mechanism?

Jasper's POV

I could hear her crying as I left, even through the door. I can't get her out of my head, even if I wanted to. As soon as I saw her, something called out to me about her. Why did she look so familiar? And what does she want me to remember? Why can't I remember, damnit!

I went to the gym to take my frustrations out. Boxing always helps me think. I pounded out punches, leaving my aggravated state to come out of me. Wait…pounding. What is familiar about pounding? Does it have something to do with Isabella? Did she do any boxing with me? So many questions, so few answers.

I walked around the compound and went to my meadow. No one knows about this place but me. It is my haven away from everything and allows me to think clearly. I tried closing my eyes and remembering, just like she said.

Suddenly, it felt like a movie playing. _Jasper. Do you remember me now?_ I heard Isabella's voice. Is she in my head? More importantly, how is she in my head? Is that some kind of witchcraft? _Jasper, look at what I am showing you and see if anything rings a bell."_

I started seeing everything. It was like looking at a movie of yourself. I knew what she was showing me actually happened. I saw all of our intimate moments, our meetings with Carlisle and after school studies. Yes, Bella. I remember now. I remember you. I remember us.

_Please help us, Jasper. Find out how that beacon works and then come help us get out of here. Also, find your original chip. We'll need it._

I will, Bella. I will. Because, I love you.

I went to my bedroom and sat on the bed, just thinking. How does Maria have a beacon on me? It makes me wonder why she even needs it. Why is she so adamant I stay with her?

I started thinking harder about the beacon. Where could it be? Is it possible to remove? I couldn't think of anywhere on my body that Maria pays any special attention to.

Wait. I know where it is. Shit, this is going to be embarrassing.

I went back to the room they had Bella, Rosalie and Emmett locked up in. "Bella!" I exclaimed.

Her head snapped in my direction.

"I know where the beacon is!"

"Where?"

"My butt…it's gotta be behind that tattoo or implanted somewhere there. I don't think it's anywhere else!" I was so excited by my revelation that I didn't realize they were laughing at me while I was pointing to my ass. Not. Funny.

Bella's POV

I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard in my life. Probably never. We really needed that comic relief. Poor Jasper. He blushed but took it in stride.

He left and came back with some medical supplies. With Rosalie's help finding it and Emmett's help in holding him down, we removed the beacon. I'll spare the details. He found the original chip in the lab but we didn't want to waste any more time in Maria's compound so we high tailed it out of there. We got to the side door and, after looking in both directions, attempted to leave as quietly as possible.

Cue the Latina from Hell. She started clapping.

"Bravo! You decided to try and go with _my_ Jasper? I thought I told you that you couldn't leave? Especially with him? I don't know why the beacon isn't working but you are not taking him anywhere," she said.

"Well, you thought….wrong." Can I sound any more stupid?

She took out a remote control and pushed a button.

We waited. And waited.

Nothing happened.

"What the hell is going on? Why isn't this working?" She screamed.

Cue my sarcasm, because I just can't resist pissing off a Spanish woman and I'm clearly a glutton for punishment.

"You bitch! He is my man and will never be yours or anybody else's. I love him. I will always fight for him. You need to be taught a lesson, I think. Jasper, any ideas?"

He gave me a big smile and nodded.

I turned back to look at her and said, "Vete al carajo y besa mi culo!" _Go fuck yourself and kiss my ass!_

We decided to give Maria a taste of her own medicine. Rosalie surgically implanted a vibrator in her butt (I didn't know that could work on a human but I guess anything's possible) and then we locked her up in her own jail. With just a push of a button on the remote, it would vibrate. The best part is that Rose created a way for the remote to go off in 45 minute intervals for 5 minute durations and buried the remote inside a cement wall so it can't be found right away and destroyed. If she tried to take it out, an electric shock would go through her body. Go Rose! Did I mention I love her?

Let her miserably rot. She deserves it. I'm not too worried about it; I'm sure one of her drones will help her escape but good luck getting that vibrator out.

Sucks to be her.

We left Texas and I hope with everything that I have that I never see Maria again. While killing her was a tempting thought, we're not evil or mean-spirited to do that even though I'm sure she is. We warned her one last time to stay away and never show her face to us again. I just know that's going to bite us in the ass but I want to think positively and hope she comes a better person.

It was time to have some fun and we started a drive out to Vegas. It was time to release some strained energy and plenty of sexual tension. Jasper and I haven't had booty in…way too long. I still think it's a miracle he regained his memory. I thought Maria had been telling me the truth about him never getting it back. I should've known she'd be a vindictive liar.

"So…." He said to me while RoMet were in the front and we were in the backseat.

"Yes?

"You love me."

I stared at him blankly. Of course I did. Didn't he remember this? Oh my fucking lord. I said it to someone else before I told him again. Shit!

"Um, heh. Yeah. Um, of course. Uh…. I'm sorry I didn't tell you…I just wanted to but then all this stuff happened and you lost your memory and then Maria pissed me off so I had to tell her what…."

He smiled at my verbal diarrhea and put a finger to my mouth. I just wanted to start sucking on it but then he let it go and gave me a kiss that I felt all over my body. He loves me too. He didn't even have to say it back. I just knew.

We ignored RoMet's fake vomiting noises to try and get us to stop. Bastards get enough booty time of their own.

We stopped at a hibachi restaurant in Phoenix. Majority rules and I wasn't going anywhere near another pancake house for a very long time.

Seriously, how many pancakes can one eat before they're sick of them? Apparently far too many to count for Emmett. It's just gross after a while. He even talks about pancakes when he's not eating them. He proudly knows 60 different varieties of pancakes. He was about to start naming them off when Rose smacked him upside his head and told him to shut it. Thank you, Rose! I was going to start calling him Bubba Pancake soon if he didn't quit it.

Jasper and I haven't been able to keep our hands off each other ever since we left Maria's compound. He was either grabbing my ass, feeling my boobs up or I'm cupping & squeezing him when we were in the car. The torment we were giving each other was enough to drive us both to the loony bin. We were still at it when we entered the restaurant only when we were sure no one was watching, or so we thought.

"For fuck's sake, quit it and stop fucking touching each other! Wait for a fucking hotel room." Rosalie bellowed out. Clearly she didn't care about all the stares and glares we got when she started swearing. I had to agree a little – there were kids there.

I turned my attention back to Rose. "Please Rose, tone down your voice and language. Jas and I will wait." He gave me this 'do we have to?' stare. Duh…

At least we got to eat really good sushi (the spider roll and the eclipse are phenomenal!) and hibachi shrimp with amazing shrimp sauce. What the hell is that sauce made of? It's like a special concoction of ketchup and mayonnaise but with something else…I wish I had special tasting powers to dissect it properly. Anyways, it was a great show, too. I love it when the chef does the little steamy volcano trick with the onions or throws the eggs into his hat. Wicked cool. I could never do that. That's way too dangerous for me.

If I wasn't going to get laid anytime soon, I may as well make myself happy in another way. Three Blue Hawaiians later, I was feeling pretty damn good.

A boy, roughly about 11 years old, kept staring at us. Brown curly hair, hazel eyes in the shape of an almond and an oval face. He looked oddly familiar but I couldn't place him. Strange. Maybe he used to be my neighbor? I shook it off and figured maybe I looked like a drunken idiot who was entertaining to watch. Yeah, that must be it. It wouldn't be the first time, sad to say. I probably made quite the fool of myself when I started building my alcohol tolerance. Even now I don't have all that much of one but at least it doesn't take one fuzzy navel to get me drunk and puking. Whoever said getting drunk was glamorous?

Yep, not me.


	11. Chapter 10: Vegas, Here We Come!

**Chapter 10: Vegas, here we come!**

At long last, we arrived a day later after switching drivers in shifts. We descended upon Vegas and enjoyed the bright lights. People were so alive and happy. It really was a breath of fresh air even though the weather was hot as fuck. It was like Texas all over again though not quite as bad.

Checking into our hotel (some pyramid looking thing), we quickly went to our designated homes. I say that because they are not just rooms. We got fucking huge ass suites that we set up to be in for at least a couple weeks. These are the kind of places royalty and undeserving shady politicians go to. Wait, aren't all politicians shady? No I gotta think positive. They can't _all_ be shady. I'm sure there are at least a couple good ones…

I couldn't think anymore because Jas waited about 30 seconds once we entered and we picked up right where we left off before Maria took him away. Upon thinking that, I got pissed. "You are not leaving me ever again. You got that?" Wow, when did my assertiveness kick in?

"I'm all yours, baby. All yours."

We spent the rest of the night and early morning fucking against many, many surfaces of the suite and then eventually making love. I'd never felt closer to him. I think we both passed out around 6:04 am. What? I saw the clock on the nightstand before my eyes shut.

RoMet woke us up at 2pm.

"Get the fuck up!" Emmett bellowed and banged on our door. Could his voice be any louder? Wait, I don't want to know.

"Go away! We need our rest!" I yelled out, my eyes still closed. Ugh, I am going to beat him with a very large stick. I was just coming out of a wonderful dream about a little girl tugging on a bigger boy's pants and asking for pistachio ice cream. It was a very specific dream and seemed like déjà vu. Odd. I'm pretty sure that has never happened.

The door slammed against the wall and my eyes shot open. All of a sudden, Rose came in wearing a royal blue dress with a scoop neck and empire waist line with 5" black heels. How the hell did she get through our lock?

As if reading my mind, she took out a master key card. Bitch knows how to charm the front desk assholes. Or the cleaning crew.

"Ugh fine. Let us get ready and we'll get a late lunch/early dinner and see some sights. Perhaps gambling afterwards?"

All three nodded.

Jas and I showered together. Hey, you wouldn't be able to resist either! We took our sweet time, much to the annoyance of RoMet. I love it when he shampoos & conditions my hair. It's an amazing scalp massage. That man has magic fingers, no doubt about it.

I put on a comfy t-shirt and jeans. Jas mimicked my style. Rose took one look at us and shook her head. "No fucking way you're leaving like that." She pushed past us and told us she'll be right back. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, she came back with a couple of outfits for us. That's some serious shopping skills.

I opened the box and grudgingly put the outfit on. She bought me a red dress? Well, at least she got me wedge heels instead of 5" killer death traps. Jas looked great in his pale blue button down shirt with designer boot leg blue jeans. Geez, when doesn't he look great?

He gave me another hungry look. "No way, _darlin'_, we're going out tonight and you'll jeest haveta wait."

"Are you makin' fun of my accent, darlin'?"

"No, sweetie. I would never do that to the love of my life." Ok that's a line I'd typically gag on but for me, it's totally true.

As planned, we went to dinner at some show and dance place. It was cool – we saw a burlesque show. I'm pretty sure the guys were planning on buying Rose and me a couple of those non-outfits. Maybe I can look into classes for burlesque dancing? There's got to be one at the compound.

It felt good to be out with RoMet. I wish Ang and Ben were here with us. They'd have so much fun. Thinking of the compound made me miss them.

Right as we were finishing dinner, my cell phone rang.

I saw the caller ID. Carlisle. Shit. I should've called him days ago but completely forgot. Well, more so avoided. I guess maybe I should call it selective memory?

"Hey Carlisle."

"Bella! You sound great. How's the search going?"

"Well, about that." I looked over at Rose and she seemed to know what I needed to answer. She shook her head and I understood.

"We're following some leads and are making progress. I didn't want to get your hopes up until we found something more concrete."

"Oh, ok. I understand. Please keep me posted. If you wouldn't mind, could you try to call every other day? I was worried about you."

Worried? Why?

"Ok, will do."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. The group looked at me.

Jas spoke up first. "Why didn't you tell them we found them?"

"Long story but RoMet does not want to be found. I'm not going to betray their confidence in us and forcing them back. It's not right."

Rose looked at me and sighed. "Bella, what do you think? I trust your judgment."

"Well, I think maybe you should give Carlisle another shot and let him explain. Perhaps there's a method to his madness?"

The guys snickered and Rose smirked.

"Ok Bella, we'll go to Alaska with you guys. But, can we stay for a few more days?"

We all seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Hey yeah!" We yelled and pounded our fists on the tables. Note to self: pounding with force is bad. The table cracked.

After dinner, we started walking around again. I realize we won't gain weight (well, other than Emmett) but it felt nice to just walk around. I had the strangest craving for ice cream after having that dream. Pistachio, to be specific. "Hey, there's a guy selling ice cream!" I ran over and sure enough, they had some! What are the chances?

I ordered some and Jasper just chuckled. I glared at him but he knew I was just joking. The others got their favorites too.

Over the next few days, we were the most clichéd tourists. We did a shitload of shopping for clothes (yawn) and made the guys carry everything. Good thing they're so strong. However, we wore mostly tank tops, shorts (ok short shorts) and cameras. But not just any cameras. Oh no, humanoids other than me apparently like spending money. We got four (yes FOUR) really nice Canon digital cameras. I didn't bother looking at the model or price tag. Both wouldn't interest me. I just knew it takes good pictures. I'm positive it does many other things but I'm just not inclined to read the user manual. That's what that technical support phone number on the user guide cover says.

Anyways.

We got some great photos of the guys bungee jumping (that's as close to free flying as I'll ever get although I chickened out), went on many rides and saw Vegas's major attractions. I haven't had this much fun in so long. I'd forgotten what was outside the compound by getting caught up in it. Hopefully, it won't take me so long to take another trip again.

We were walking along the boardwalk and I was in such a strange mood. I looked at Jas and said, "Let's get married!"

He looked at me wide-eyed and I couldn't figure out what I said that was so shocking. Does he not love me enough to marry me?

"Are you sure, darlin'? I don't believe in divorce although I'd love to have you as my own forever."

I smiled. Of course it's ok to marry him now – Renee would approve. She always said you have to test drive a car before buying it and he was quite the test drive. Yum. He's all the horsepower I'll ever need and want. That and it's not like I'm 18 or anything. Although I feel like I'm forgetting something.

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise." He gave me this huge smile and nodded.

RoMet looked at us like we grew three heads but then came back to the present and started screaming in congratulations.

We look at all the wedding chapels and decided Elvis was the most qualified to marry us. I thought the drive through option was just too tacky. Do people really do that?

They had this massive array of costumes we could rent. Ew, used wedding dresses. I suppose it makes sense. I mean, I'm only going to wear the thing once, right? And it's not like I need to keep the damn thing to pass on to my daughter for her wedding seeing as I can't get pregnant – well, I can just take a shitload of pictures. That settled, I chose to dress up as Marilyn Monroe and Jas dressed like John F Kennedy. Rose, as my maid of honor and Jackie-O look-a-like except blonde, walked down first. Emmett walked me down the aisle way too slowly in his gangster suit. I think he walked slowly on purpose because he knew how excited I was to be with Jas.

When I finally, finally got in front of him, he looked at me with hungry eyes that said 'ain't no way yer walkin' anytime soon.' Instead, he said "You look stunning, darlin'." Elvis gave me too long of a stare for my taste and I heard Jasper growl. Jealous Jasper is so hot.

I was pretty sure Elvis was saying something about love, cherish and whatever. We put on these funny plastic smurf and smurfette rings to commemorate our love. How appropriate.

We were officially announced husband and wife after about 7 minutes although it felt like 30 seconds to me. While I didn't really listen to Elvis, I was counting down until Jas was my husband. Clearly my math sucks when I'm in the process of getting married. How on earth did I graduate college with honors?

I didn't have the traditional…well, anything. But, I have Jasper and that's all I'll ever want and need.

The next morning, as promised, my legs were extremely wobbly. I definitely had a hard time walking. I think all the blood left them and circulation hadn't returned just quite yet.

It was our last day in Vegas and we decided, much to my dismay, to walk around and see if we missed seeing anything. After checking out of the hotel, we packed up the SUV and started walking.

Jasper got really excited and started running. Where the hell is he going?

Ah. Oh no. He ran into a jewelry store. I hope he doesn't buy anything too expensive. Honestly, I'd rather wear my smurf ring with pride.

He noticed we were following him and motioned for us to stay outside. We waited a good 15 minutes before I got antsy. Damnit. This is taking too long. Patience is not one of my virtues.

Somehow I got past Em and was too fast for Rose. I barged in just as I heard the clerk say "Thank you and have a nice day." Jasper turned around and somehow just _knew_ I couldn't handle waiting anymore. As if he was begging for pain, he decided not to give it to me right away. Basically, the same thing. I tried to grab the bag away but he still wouldn't give it to me – even pouting didn't work!

He bent down to whisper in my ear, "Bella, darlin', you need to be patient. Otherwise, I may have to hold out on ya until you cool down and act like a good girl."

Did he just threaten to withhold sex? Maybe I will flog him, after all.

We stopped for lunch at this expensive restaurant – it was the type that screamed "We give you less food for more money but at least it's pretty and supposedly in Zagat's guide." Whatever. I asked for a burger. Serves Jas right for bringing me to a place I don't belong. RoMet just snickered at Jas's face after I ordered my food. He loves me though and he wouldn't dare say a word about my menu choice. Actually, I'm not sure whether a hamburger is even on the menu. They wouldn't make a McD's run, would they?

Shortly after we were finished, RoMet left the table to go get the SUV citing dessert as not on their meal plan. What kind of bullshit was that? It's probably just a reason to go somewhere for a quickie. Jas had gone to the bathroom and the waiter brought my dessert. Yum, Tiramisu.

I looked at it closely because it was sparkling? Sure enough, there was a ring in my dessert and I turned my head and saw Jasper on one knee. Apparently we do things backwards in my world. We got married before I got a ring. But, the one in my pie was amazing.

It was a white gold ring studded with diamonds with a turquoise flower in the center. Just gorgeous. He knows me so well, especially not to get a ring that's ostentatious! I love him so much, it hurts.

"Bella, you are the most important person in my world. I could not imagine living without you. Please be my lover, my friend, my confidante and my wife. I am but a hollow shell without you. Will you be my wife and by my side for as long as we both shall exist?" I didn't fail to notice he said exist instead of live. Maybe he wanted to be around longer than a normal span of a human life?

I started crying and screamed out "Yes! Yes! Yes!" while I jumped into his arms. It felt so good and safe being in his embrace. There were no more words necessary. If I didn't have to, I'd never move out of his arms. They are the only ones I'll ever want and need.

Cue RoMet. Bastards were waiting in the wings. I bet they still had a quickie, though.

We all hugged and jumped and the people around us cheered and clapped; the snooty snobs too and, while that was nice of them, I'm more inclined to believe some did it out of obligation, as if being herded like cows. Moo, clap. Moo, Clap.

Thank goodness Carlisle gave us a credit card with plenty of money on it. Although, I won't know what to say if he asks about our time in Vegas. Shit! How do I explain this!

What's worse is that I just realized what I'd forgotten.

Charlie.

I haven't spoken to him since being kidnapped! I'm sure Carlisle took care of it and explained it somehow but I feel like the worst daughter ever. We didn't have the best father/daughter relationship but, still.

Should I call him? Could I, even? What does he think happened to me? I tried to put myself in his shoes but every time I thought about how he felt, I felt worse. Jasper saw how sad I must look.

"Darlin', aren't you happy?"

"Oh honey of course I am. I was just thinking of Charlie and how he's have liked to have been at my wedding."

"Oh. Well, no matter what, I'm sure he'd be happy for you."

Did I mention how smart he is? He always knows just what to say to make me feel better. "Thank you. I love you, Jas."

"Ditto."

* * *

**Ring links on profile.**


	12. Chapter 11: Back to Alaska

**Chapter 11: Back to Alaska**

We did the road trip again to Alaska and took our sweet time.

Jasper didn't know it, but one of the rest stops had a mini mall and, you guessed it, a jewelry store. I bought him a great ring – it was yellow gold on one side and white gold on the other. They met in the middle and had diamonds. It was just so…Jas.

He was coming out of the restroom when I pulled him into the family restroom. You know, where one family that is stressing over their little children throwing tantrums or mothers not wanting their sons to go the men's rooms by themselves. But, I digress…

I took the ring out of the box and slid it on his left ring finger. I then dropped to my knees and took him out of his pants. I pumped him twice and then took him _all_ in my mouth. Holy shit he is huge, it never ceases to amaze me. And the fact that he is hard any time I want him to be.

"Fuck, Bella."

I sucked him like it was my last meal and started playing with his balls, squeezing and running my middle finger in that short space between his balls and his anus. After a couple minutes, he couldn't hold out anymore and came in my mouth. I stood up and he kissed me with passion. I love kissing him. I love him, period.

"Thank you, my dear darlin' wife. You are so wonderful."

As promised, I had called Carlisle of the amazing news that we found RoMet and were coming home with them. He sounded so excited, like a kid finding out the everyday was a magical, present-filled holiday.

Carlisle, Esme, Ang and Ben were waiting for us as we arrived. Damn homing devices. Strangely enough, even HAC and Alice were there. I still avoided eye contact with her the majority of the time.

What's funny, however, is that when I looked at her, she started jumping. I couldn't figure out why and then realized it was for a couple reasons. One, RoMet were home (duh) and two, we were all wearing Pixie Designs. Go figure. Rose was a lot smarter than I ever gave her credit for. It was stupid of me to underestimate her; she _told_ me she was a super smart scientist!

HAC had a small smile on his face but stood in the background. It looked like he had…pain in his eyes. I wonder why?

HAC/Edward

I'm so glad they're all home safe. Especially Bella. I noticed her ring, however and my heart dropped into the ground. Ah, if she only knew.

_Flashback_

_I was talking to Carlisle after she'd successfully brought Jasper to the compound and explained what the truth was. I had grown quite fond of her from a distance, of course, and she seemed so lost. Now that I see her with him, my heart broke that I didn't try to develop a relationship sooner. After the meeting, Carlisle requested I sit down with him._

"_Edward, there's something you need to know. Do you remember when I told you about the order of how you all were created?"_

_I nodded._

"_Well, I created you to be with Isabella. I had no idea they had a bond with each other before. This is why you feel drawn to her. It's part of your programming."_

_I was shocked. How could he tell me who I should and shouldn't be attracted to? No wonder no one ever caught my eye before her._

"_You need to remove that from me. Right away."_

"_I'm afraid that'll take a little while to create a new chip, since it's hardcoded into yours."_

_Unbelievable._

_End Flashback_

Carlisle still had yet to reprogram my chip or replace it. This was so unfair. I looked at her. She looked so beautiful, so happy. Even if I was supposed to be meant for her, how could I take away what made her so happy? That would just make me a monster in her and mine eyes.

I couldn't do that. I wouldn't.

Bella's POV

I saw Edward smiling sadly at me and walking away. He's such a distant man. How could he be here physically and yet so many miles away mentally? Maybe I should talk to him later and see what his deal is.

"Bella! I'm so glad you're home!" Ang attacked me, pulling me into a very, very tight hug. I bet she could rival Emmett. That fucking hurt!

Jas and I kept our hands locked together and we couldn't separate them, even if we wanted to. Our bond was just that strong. I'm so glad he's in my life. I think I'd always feel incomplete without him. We are two halves of a whole, no doubt about it.

Carlisle had RoMet, Jas & I go to a conference room with him. We sat down and there was an awkward silence as Rose didn't exactly make her feelings (disgust for Carlisle) a secret. I decided to see if I could help smooth things over.

"So, what's been happening here?"

Carlisle looked away from his staring contest with Rosalie to me to answer. "Not much. Angela and Ben have some news but I think she wants to tell you herself. Esme redecorated another wing. Alice came out with a new clothing line and Edward has been keeping to himself lately."

Rose snorted. Does she know why? But she hasn't seen him in so long…

"Ok." I replied.

"So, tell me about you guys." He directed his request to Jas and me but I knew he was talking about RoMet. I didn't know how much she was willing to say. I was still thinking about it when she piped up.

"Carlisle, Emmett and I didn't come here to see you. We came to say hi to the others. I don't know if we'll stay for a day, a week or a month. I can't stand your presence and frankly, I don't want to be in the same room with you."

He looked shocked; he wasn't expecting any hostility and seemed so confused. I begged Rose with my eyes to explain it to him, to make him understand what she's so upset about. She saw the pleading in my eyes and sighed.

She turned back to face Carlisle. "Fine, you want to know what's really up with me and Emmett?"

He simply nodded.

"You created us without thinking of us and how we would feel about being creations. How could you think I'd want to live forever and never have any children? How is that a life worth living? I can't kill myself and the only pleasure I get from life is being with Emmett, who has saved me over and over. You get it?"

I internally laughed to myself, picturing Rose driving a minivan loaded up with screaming children and babies taking their diapers off. If they were mini-Emmett boys, I bet they would take their pants off and run after anyone with their peens pointed at people yelling "I'm gonna get you!" Yeah, I could totally see that.

Carlisle looked, held up his finger as if to give him a moment, and processed her words. I could tell he had no idea she was so upset with her situation.

"Well, Rosalie, I'm sorry you feel that way. I did not mean you any harm nor ill intentions. However, if you would like, there is an option if you would like to cease living."

Say what? She looked as shocked as I did, I'm sure.

"How? I thought we couldn't die?"

"Well, you can be deactivated. Basically, if I take your chip and replace it with a blank one, you would essentially become a body with no brain activity. In essence, you would cease to live. Is that something you would like to pursue?"

Emmett turned green and looked like he wanted to vomit. I think he was happy she wouldn't die before him and didn't want this to be an option for her. Rose didn't look at him while sitting there, thinking.

"In case you'd like the option, there is a way to make Emmett live forever and not die. We can download his brain, embed it on a chip and create an adult-sized body to place it into. That said, I'll leave you to your thoughts. Welcome home, Rose, Emmett." Carlisle said and walked out.

I didn't have to be a mind reader to know what was going through Rose's head, nor did Jas need any special powers to see how she felt. Confusion, happiness, sadness and finally, awareness. If I were in her position, what would I do? How would Jasper feel if I ceased to exist. As if he read my mind or felt my emotions, he turned to me and gave me this disturbing look. One that said, 'I wouldn't be able to exist without you.' I know that look. I've had it on my face plenty of times when I was thinking of him.

RoMet left the room without saying anything. Rose gave me a small smile on her way out. Poor Rose. Poor Emmett.

Jas and I went back to our room in silence. I'm not sure if it was comfortable or not, since I was so lost in thought.

When we came inside, we got into bed and went to sleep. We didn't even change into our pajamas.

Rose came to my door in the morning and knocked without yelling.

"Bella, can I come in?"

"Rose? Did you happen to notice it's 7:30am?"

"Yes, but I need to speak with you. You're the only one I trust."

How can I say no to that? I opened the door. "C'mon in. I was just kidding around."

She looked at me as if saying 'yeah right.' Damnit. She knows me too well already.

"Bella, I don't know what to do. On one hand, this is like a dream come true. On the other, how could I do this to Emmett? It would break his heart."

"Well, did you talk to Emmett about this? You definitely need to know his thoughts and feelings. Have you considered living out through the end of his life and then being deactivated? Or, would you want to have him forever?"

"I just don't know. I'm so conflicted! What would you do?"

Therein lies the $64,000 question. "Rose, every situation and couple are different. You and I are different people. However, I couldn't imagine living without Jasper. He is my whole reason for being."

I could tell Jasper wasn't sleeping anymore and was eavesdropping. "Jas, you can come out now."

He looked sheepishly from behind a corner and blushed. "Um, I think maybe I should take a walk or something while you ladies have some private time."

Rose glared at him. "Get out." She always had a way with words. She is telling my man to leave his place? Luckily, Jas didn't say any snarky retort back. He knew better.

She looked back at me with a sad face. "Hey Rose, why don't we go to the arcade, play some air hockey and then go find Emmett? I think you need a temporary distraction.

"That sounds like a great idea, Bell. Let's go."

6 air hockey games later as Rose smiled huge, we made our way to her room. I wish I could say I let her win ALL 6 but that would be lying. Nope, she beat me fair and square. Next time we'll try skee ball and see how well she fares at that. Ha!

She stopped in front of the door and froze.

"Rose, you have to open it. We need to get inside."

"I'm scared, Bella. What if he's disgusted I even entertained the idea of leaving him and doesn't want anything to do with me anymore?"

"Ro, this is Emmett we're talking about. He would go to the ends of the earth for you if you asked. He worships the ground you walk on and always has you on a pedestal. Are you really going to ask me that question? You already know the answer."

"Bella, you always know exactly what to say whether I want to hear the truth or not."

I gave her a wink and smiled. "Hey, that's what friends are for."

She knocked on the door. Doesn't she have a key?

"Em, are you in there?"

He opened the door without a second's hesitation and pulled her into a gigantic hug. "Rosie! I've missed you so much!"

She smiled and I smirked at her. I told you so!

"Em, we should talk." It was only then that I noticed Jas was there, looking as sexy as usual.

"Bella, stop eye fucking him. You can leave if you want. I'll let you know."

Thank goodness she's so perceptive! I grabbed his hand and ran to our room. As soon as we got in, I attacked him.

"Woah, not that I'm not welcoming this, but is this a special occasion for my girl to attack me like this?"

Shut up! "Jas, just fuck me. I need you, baby." That was all the encouragement he needed. I think I may even let him use his mouth down there today. Hey, I can be full of surprises!

After our lots o'fun sexy time, we headed over to The Lunchbox restaurant and saw Angela and Ben there. Were they ever apart? Hmm, doubt it. Just like Jas and me.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Bella! I'm so glad you're here! Oh, you too, Jasper. We've got some news for you!"

"Are you pregnant?" I asked with a smile.

"No dummy, you know we can't get pregnant. We're getting married! And I want you to be my maid of honor!"

It's only now I realized she had a ring on her finger. Can you say slow?

"Ang, that's terrific! We're so happy for you! You too Ben! Of course I'll be your maid of honor!" Jas and I went over to the other side of the table and gave them big hugs.

"Oh hey, there's a party going on at Disco Fever tonight. Wanna go?"

Oooh, tempting. I looked over at Jas. "We'll be there." I leaned over and quietly asked, "Any bets?"

Her eyes turned mischievous. "What have you got in mind?"

"C&C. Clothes and crowd."

After going back to our place to get dressed, we met Ang & Ben in front of the club. We could hear the loud music was loud when the door opened (good thing for sound proofing here). Ang and I had fun putting our retro bellbottoms on (thank you Pixie).

We walked inside and the place was jumping with energy! There were so many people dancing (more like grinding) but some stayed true to disco fever. I grinned at Jas and pulled him on the dance floor. I started swaying, just to get started, and began lip syncing the words to the song. When it ended, a Grease disco song came on. Ang and I screamed!

Ang & Ben jumped in and started going crazy with disco moves! We watched from the sidelines. It was great. Then, Jas and I joined in and they went out of the spotlight.

Jas and I did so many dance moves, from freestyle to the hustle. People started gathering around us and were clapping to the music and whistling loudly at us. I wish I had invited RoMet but I didn't know how long their talk would take. Plus, I didn't want to disturb them and Emmett doesn't seem like the disco type, you know?

WE WON. How awesome is that?

After we danced, I looked at them with a smug face. Ang and I agreed to terms while the boys weren't looking. She was not happy they lost.

"So, Ang, bummer, right?"

"Oh shut it." The boys looked at both of us like we were crazy. I winked at Jas and held up my pointer finger.

"My dear darling Jas, we won the competition against Ang & Ben. They now have to clean our room and do our laundry for a month. See, now you'll have clean socks all month long."

Ben piped up. "I never agreed to this!"

I glared at him. "No, you did because the moment you decided to be with Ang, that made you agree to anything she does or says by proxy."

He looked like he'd seen the light and wasn't thrilled that I was right. That's right baby, uh-huh uh-huh. I wanted to start singing Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. I was on such a high. Normally I wouldn't be so smug but…Ben's attitude was annoying me.

All of a sudden, we heard a roar from the dance floor and looked over. Sure enough, it was RoMet. They crowd just went fucking wild! They responded to them more than the both of us combined! Ang looked at me and smiled smugly.

"They weren't in the bet!"

"Doesn't matter. The bet was, whoever got the crowd to support them the most would be the winner. We both lost."

Fuck. I can't even imagine what they'll ask for. Maybe I can remind Rose of all the times I've helped her?

Ang must've seen my plan. "No, you can't guilt her into being nice to you. You get what you get." Damnit. Why do the people around me have to be so smart?

"Don't worry darlin', we're in this together." Remind me how I got so lucky?

Cue the winners. RoMet came over.

"Wow, this is a great club!"

"Hey, I didn't know you liked disco…" I tried to be nice and apologetic about not inviting her. Maybe she's upset with me for it?

"It's ok. We got done with our talk and moved on to other…activities until we found out from the Pixie about this place.

Cue the Pixie.

She danced over and gave me a knowing look. Does she know about the bet?

"So Rose, it looks like you've won the bet." Fuck, she knows. How?

Ang looked at me apologetically. I'm going to get her back for this.

"What bet?" Rose asked.

"The one Bella and I made. Whoever got the crowd to support us the most gets bragging rights and cleaning services for a month."

"Really?"

"Really." Fuck. Emmett smirked at me. Bastard.

For the next month, Jas and I had to go to their room and pick up after them every other day. It felt like every day, with the mess they made. Ben and Ang went the days we weren't there. At least they didn't have to worry about birth control. I would definitely draw the line at used condoms. Not that it would do me any good to complain. I feel so sorry for those people that work at movie theaters. I can't imagine all the crap they find in the back rows.

Finally, the month was over and I learned my lesson. Keep the bet to ourselves and limit players. And don't bet against RoMet working a crowd. In anything.

I decided payback was in order. I organized a poker game.

Everyone came over to an empty room we set up with a couple of poker tables and food. We invited Ang, Ben, RoMet, Carlisle, Esme, HAC and the pixie. This was going to be good. I wasn't even going to play; I was going to enjoy watching everyone fail miserably to Jas. Ha!

Sure enough, he cleaned everyone out. Oh yeah! Did I mention I love him?

For the next month, our place was spotless and we were waited on hand and foot. It was glorious.

HAC/Edward

Carlisle had reprogrammed my chip and removed Bella from it. I still saw her as someone I would've liked to have dated but I no longer felt like she was the "only" one for me. It gave me hope.

The poker game was a good test for me. I could be in the same room as her and I found I didn't focus on her as much as before. I was finally at peace and no longer thought of Jasper as stealing what was supposed to be mine.

Bella's POV

_Knock Knock_

"Who is it and what do you want at this ungodly hour?"

"Open the door bitch. And it's almost noon." _Rosalie._ I'm already planning my payback. As soon as I wake up.

I opened the door. "_What?" _I spat.

"Hello to you, too. When will I ever learn you're not a person to wake up? I'd hate to be your alarm clock!" She laughed at my expense. Hard. The alarm clocks here aren't on the nightstand like in normal bedrooms, oh no. They're deactivated when the water is running in the shower and you step into it. Based on your weight, it'll turn off at that time. Some asshole genius figured this is the best one. As smart as I'd like to think I am, I have not been able to figure out a way, short of pushing Jas out of bed to go first, around it. And, he's not happy to do that for me anymore because then he has to wake me up manually. Apparently no one wants this task.

I heard a rumor they went to Carlisle to figure out how to reset the alarm so that I'm forced to show my weight to the shower gods and not be able to use Jasper. Bastards. And I'm pretty sure my husband is even a part of helping this maniacal plan come to fruition.

But, I digress. Back to the original thought.

"I wanted to tell you how the conversation with Em went? You want to hear it?"

"Yes. It's important." No. Go away and I want to go back to sleep. I took a big breathe and said, "Ok, I'm awake now. How did it go?"

"Well, I basically told him I'm on the fence about living forever or not but I'm leaving it up to him."

I raised my eyebrow in question.

"If he chooses to upload and become a humanoid, I will not ask to be deactivated. If he chooses to live out his life, then I will wait until he passes away and then request deactivation."

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you have to say? No brilliant insight?"

"Rose, I love you. You know that but it's…" I looked at the bastard clock, "11:37am and I'm not completely coherent. I hate to whine but…really, I must at least shower. I must look awful right now." I am also secretly planning to ambush her at 3am tomorrow morning and see how _she_ likes it.

"Ok, I'll wait."

Just my luck. She'll wait.

_Damnit._

After my lengthy shower, my hopes were in vain as she was still sitting at my breakfast bar. Oh well, suck it up, Bella.

"So, I was thinking about what you said while I was in the shower."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

No, not really. I'm flying off the seat of my pants and pulling shit out of my ass as I keep talking…no pun intended. "And I think it's a great idea. It does put quite a big decision on Em, of course, but it's nice you recognized the situation is more about him than you, you know? I'm glad you gave him some control over the decision. Otherwise I thought he'd be permanently green." I tried to give her my most awake smile. Ever. It was probably a grimace but I work with what I can.

She smiled back, happy that I agreed with her. Although, I doubt she'll let me go back to sleep. She didn't disappoint. "So, want to go out and get breakfast?"

See? I knew it. Clearly she has it out for me. Maybe I pissed her off one too many times in a previous life?


	13. Chapter 12: The Wedding Parties

**Chapter 12: The Wedding Parties**

For the next month, I've had to make lists and go to different places for planning and cue a shudder, shopping. Luckily, Alice is making a custom gown for Ang. She wouldn't even let us see it until it was done being designed. All she did was take measurements of Ang, Rose, Sahar (Ben's sister), me (MoH) and the bridesmaid dresses. Ang had also asked Alice to be a bridesmaid you could tell, by the look on the pixie's face, that that made her year. Ben and his goofballs, I mean groomsmen, she will do later. Turns out, she programmed her own design software. Seriously, what fashion designer does that? She told me that if I ever wanted to see the software, to come to her office and she'd explain it to me. I have to admit, it does sound interesting.

She also offered to do hair/makeup for the ladies on the big day. She even made an appointment at a beauty spa (oh joy) for us to get scrubbed and whatever else they torture women with.

With the first order of business, being taken care of, we started looking at locations. I wanted to do it in the hologram room but she 86ed that idea. Carlisle showed us a beautiful atrium that can be modified with holograms. If you didn't know better, you'd say we were outside in default mode. Instead, Carlisle pushed some buttons and the roof started sliding away to display a glass roof to let the sunshine in. WOW. It was fucking beautiful and basically in the middle of the compound. We chose the Oceanside theme with gardens and a beautiful fountain around the seating area before she gets to the beach. Oh yeah, he wants to get married on the beach. The best part is that we can choose what's real and what's not. She can have real sand, gardens and all of that stuff done by the hologram and then changed into the reception area with tables & a dance floor afterwards. Carlisle started talking about moving molecules using nanotechnology while I tuned him out and started playing with the controls. How amazing. Ok, we're done with this part.

Carlisle also told us that since the whole compound is recorded, he'll have Richard (remember Dick?) put it together into a nice DVD to remember the day by. He was excited about the DVD. Apparently he doesn't get to do "fun" stuff like this all too often. Personally, I think he needs a life and a lay. Doesn't sound like he gets out too often.

Next, we had to go over the music. HAC stepped in and played all sorts of compilations he'd written on the piano in the music room. Afterwards, we went out to the atrium and there was a jukebox looking machine that I hadn't noticed before. We walked over to it and it had every fucking band and song ever written/played. Some songs were released and others weren't. How the fuck did they get this thing? Never mind, I don't want to know. iTunes had nothing on them.

I actually had something special planned for her but she'll find that out come the big day.

Ok, so on to food. There were a few different places that cater. After going to them _all_, we decided on a 6 course Italian lunch. Bruno, our maître d', said they'll have appetizers, sorbet palette cleansers, pasta, choice of meat or fish, potato & veggies sides and dessert. But not just any dessert. Oh no. This caterer has what's called a Venetian Table, which is a mini dessert room. There were all sorts of desserts available. Cakes, cookies, flambé station, chocolate fondue, shaped fruits, and Italian pastries. Yum. All with an open bar. Wow. We have a winner, ding ding ding.

Lastly, we needed someone to marry her. Emmett downloaded a Justice of the Peace certificate and got officially ordained online. Ok, done. We'll have to cross our fingers that he doesn't say too much inappropriate. I have to be realistic that something will be said, but hope that it's minimal.

Carlisle is going to walk her down the aisle. I know he's looking forward to this and, being that he doesn't have any "real" children of his own, it's a huge honor for him. I'm glad Angela asked him to do it.

Thinking of Carlisle walking her down the aisle made me remember Charlie and that made me feel sad. Should I ask to call him? What did Carlisle tell him? For all I know, he may think I'm dead. I went to Carlisle's office to ask him about it.

I knocked on the door. "Carlisle, do you have a moment?"

He opened it with a smile. "Absolutely, Bella. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I was wondering what Charlie thinks happened to me. Did you talk to him? If so, what did you say?"

"I'm surprised you are thinking about this now. Why now?"

"well, it started with him not walking me down the aisle when I got married and I had forgotten about contacting him but just remembered now that you'll be walking Angela down the aisle."

"Ah. Well, as you know, humans cannot know about this at all. He believes you're dead. You need to make sure he cannot ever see you so, that means you cannot ever return to Forks."

Huh. I've always wanted to get out of that shithole and now, I can't even visit now that I'm out of it. Ironic.

"So, how did I die?"

He chuckled. "Your truck had an accident with an electric light post. It blew up and there were little to no pieces of human remains left. Police cleared it as an accident and no foul play, so it's done and a closed case."

Of course, every wedding must have a bachelor and bachelorette's party. It's just a requirement! Ben held back when he found out I was throwing her a party. I told Jas to make his fun but not kill him from overstimulation. Ben is reserved and shy. Well, I don't know what he's like behind closed door and…I really need to focus on my original thought.

Right, back to the party.

I got our small group together; Ang, Rose, Alice, Sahar, Esme and me. I doubt Esme gets to have this kind of fun, so I figured I'd include her. I rented out one of the nightclubs for this very night. They were quite excited to help host it.

I blindfolded Ang two hours before she was "supposed" the get ready for the party. May as well make it suspenseful. I think she knew it was me because she didn't fight me, thank goodness. That girl knows how to seriously kick ass.

After her eyes were done, I put these special ear devices in – they look like hearing aids but work both ways. Basically, they can allow or prohibit sound from entering. Cool, huh? Yeah, she didn't find that all too amusing. She started yelling profanities that I hadn't heard come from her in a very long time (clearly Ben was too good an influence). I internally smiled and handcuffed her to her chair and tied her feet to the legs. Lucky for me, the chair was one of the indestructible ones we had on the compound that I conveniently gave her a few days ago, saying we're remodeling our area and wouldn't take no for an answer when she tried to tell me it was too pretty to get. As if.

I finally cut her communication off entirely when I put a ball in her mouth and strapped it to her head. Hmm, I wonder how Jas would look like this…

Focus, Bella!

I let the other girls in and we carried her, while in the chair, to the nightclub. Thankfully we are very strong because of the whole humanoid deal. It has plenty of benefits. If anyone, Rose probably enjoys the strength the most. Anyways…

We got her situated in the nightclub and everything went very, very quiet. I enabled her audio and saw Angela tilt her head, trying to find some semblance of sound to know or figure out what's going on.

I got in front of her and took off the blindfold and removed the ball from her mouth. Ick, her drool was all over her chin. She narrowed her eyes and wiped her mouth. "I knew it was you!"

"Of course, Ang. Who else would love you enough to tie you up like this?" She raised an eyebrow and I shuddered. "Never mind. Pretend I didn't ask." I left her bound and put the ball back into her mouth but at least now she can see and hear.

Cue stripper's tease music. Her eyes widened and she started shaking her head side to side, trying to convey a big, fat NO to this. Just she wait, this is going to be fuckawesome.

Angela's POV

I am going to kill Bella. She will die by my hands sooner than later. What the fuck was she thinking bringing a stripper to me? Doesn't she know me at all? I feel like I'm cheating on Ben. Oh my God. Ben! What if he has a stripper at his? I wouldn't put it past Jasper, seeing how Bella thinks it's ok for me. Fuck! My poor Ben. I hope he doesn't have a heart attack. He's only human, after all.

The room is very dim and the stripper is in all black, looking like a cat burglar. Everything was covered up, even his face! Is this supposed to be erotic? I kept repeating "I'm going to kill Bella" internally as a mantra.

He started dancing for me, very seductively. Then he started touching me, starting at my hair, down my jaw, arms and hip. His hand stayed there while the other traced down my thigh, leg and foot. Uh, isn't there supposed to be rules about touching or something?

He started kissing and licking my feet. I have to admit, it is pretty hot. No one had ever done that before. It tickled a little but it was turning me on. He started moving upwards and kissed my ankles, calves and finally stopping at my knee. He kissed both my knees. He then moved on to my hips and my middle was just aching. Wait! I need to think of Ben! This can't be happening. I started looking for Bella to get her to stop this but she was nowhere to be found. I'm going to kill that bitch.

Did he just put his hand on my breast? What the fuck? What gives him the right to touch me there? This has gone on far too…ahhhhh! He bit on my nipple and started sucking it through my clothes. Ugh. I need to fight this…can't…let…this…go…on.

He ripped off my shirt and started squeezing and kneading my other breast and moved up to my neck, licking and biting my collarbone. He tore off the bra, too, and started sucking and gently biting my nipple. He twisted and turned my other nipple and it was fucking painful! I heard myself moan in excitement and brought my head down in shame. I can't believe this; I am essentially cheating on my fiancé. This is so horrible and yet it feels so good.

Before I could begin my next thought, opened my pants, cupped me and rolled his fingers through my folds. He began to kiss, bite and lick my thighs while his other hand went to grab my ass. Ben… who? Shit I am such a bad person.

"You are so beautiful," he said.

Ben?

"Ben? Is that you?" I tried to talk but that stupid fucking ball made me sound incoherent. He looked up and holy shit, it is Ben! Bastard made me think I was cheating on him this whole time?

He removed my mouth guard and I glared at him. "Get me the fuck out of here now!"

Bella's POV

The day after the bachelorette party was rehearsal day. My door had swung open to reveal and very pissed of Angela. I immediately looked at her with concern. "Angela? What's wrong?"

She pounced on me before I could utter another word. She's mad at me? Why? Was Ben not good in seduction or something?

"You bitch! We're waiting for marriage! I have not gone this long without getting laid for you to screw it all up!"

Well, that's news. I didn't know _that_. "I'm sorry Ang. I didn't know. I thought it would be a nice surprise instead of hiring some other person to strip for you."

She had me in a pretzel and, although I could easily get out of it, I stayed in and tried to be calm. All I could hear our heavy breathing. Funny, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was listening to a porn video. Ok, I really need to focus. Now is definitely not the time to get sidetracked. She really could kick my ass if she wanted to.

But, she released me. "Ang?"

"You're right Bella. I'm glad it was Ben but it was just such a shock to see him do all this. I'm not 100% certain he's a virgin but it makes me think, after last night, that he's not and it makes me sad. I mean, I want to be one for him but I can't become one and I just thought it would still be so special if he was and…"

Glad I'm not the only one that can blubber like an idiot and just keep going with verbal diarrhea until the sun don't shine.

"Ang, you don't know for sure. Where is Ben now? Is he ok?"

She got this scared look on her face. "Ben. Ben. Oh my God. Ben! I left him there at the club last night and ran as far as I could. I spent some time in the hologram room, facing some demons of my past. Shit, I need to find him!"

Oh, this is bad. This is very bad. I can't even imagine what's going through his head right now. Fuck. "Let's go, Ang. Let's go find the love of your life."

Luckily, Ben is a very predictable creature. We found him in their living quarters. That was my cue to leave. I did NOT want to be the middle of their argument, even if I totally deserved it.

A little while later, Ang knocked on my door. As I opened it, she gave me a huge hug. "I'm sorry Bella. You had the best of intentions and I ruined the fun. I'm so sorry!"

"Oh Ang, it's ok. What's more important is that you're ok with Ben. Is everything fine? Tell me what's going on."

She went on to explain that yes, he is indeed a virgin. This is something that I didn't need to know although I'm disturbed to be relieved about. Maybe I'll need counseling after this whole wedding chaos. Anyway, they made up and the wedding is still on. Phew!

The big day came and it was, ironically, Ang & Ben's first date anniversary. Go ahead, roll your eyes. I think it's romantic.

HAC started playing his own composition, a beautiful piece. That man is truly talented. He needs to date more. Maybe I'll set him up with Sahar.

Ang walked down the aisle, through the garden after the bridesmaid and me. Then she went onto the beach where Ben and the rest of the wedding party were waiting. Holy crap this is all so wonderful – my best friend deserves it all. She had such a glowing smile on her face. I'm so happy for her.

"Dearly beloved, we are all gathered here to watch Ang & Ben get hitched. He's finally going to make an honest woman out of her, buying the cow so to speak, hehe. In the time of pre-marriage intercourse and such, I thankfully did not need to guide these two through what a first sexual experience will be, if you get my drift."

I glared at him when he mistakenly looked my way. "Shut up, they haven't had sex yet!" The audience gasped and Ben turned beet red. Damnit I have a big mouth although Ang had a hint of a smile on her face. I know she's proud of them waiting.

The rest of the ceremony took about 5 minutes. Emmett only put a couple crude jokes in about the wedding night and then stopped after I gave him the evil eye. However, I'm not sure whether to cut the ceremony out for the DVD or not. Eh, maybe not. They'll laugh about it later, right?

We took a ton of pictures and then headed into the reception area after the hologram changed scenes. That is so slick.

After the food, Ben & Ang took a mic and made a speech to thank everyone for coming. As if anyone would miss this. There must be at least 3,000 people here!

HAC and I worked in secrecy – we didn't want anyone finding out my special surprise to her. I started singing to one of his original compositions and Ang started crying. Shit. Was she crying that is was good or horrible? I hope my singing is ok. HAC said it was very good. At the end of it, she came over and hugged me. She whispered, "You are the best friend anyone could ever have." I'll take that as a nice compliment.

The dancing commenced to a slow song and Jas and I couldn't be close enough. Honestly, I was glad I didn't have a big to-do wedding. We got married our style, and that's how it should be. In that moment, I saw Emmett looking for music to try and start a mosh pit. I gave him the evil eye again and he grabbed Rose for a nice, slow dance. She needs to not let him out of her sight. Leaving Emmett alone = dangerous.

I turned my head to see…HAC is kissing Sahar? It wasn't a shoving his tongue into her mouth kiss, more like a nice, gentle only on the lips kiss. I guess they don't need to be set up. Good for them. HAC met my eye and nodded with a smile. I smiled back.

When the song ended, I wanted to go find Emmett and yell at him not to ruin the wedding. Instead, HAC tapped my shoulder and asked for a dance. Eh…why not?

"So, this is a great wedding. It looks like everyone is having a lot of fun."

"Thanks, but many different people helped. The music wouldn't have been the same without you."

He gave me this strange look and it was like he was fighting with himself.

"Bella, I need to tell you something. Can we go somewhere private?"

"Sure." We went to the gazebo while everyone was inside or on the beach. He took my hand and started dancing. Well, more like swaying. "What's on your mind?"

"I was created for you. We were supposed to be together, like mates."

My eyes went wide. What do you say to that? "Um…" Well, there go my brilliant speech skills.

"I wanted to let you know that my programming has been changed and I no longer feel that way about you. I just thought you should know."

"Oh, um…ok. Thanks." We finished the dance in a comfortable silence but I was really trying hard not to think about what he said. Why would Carlisle 'make' him for me? It doesn't make any sense.

He had this strange look of self doubt but then determination as I looked up at him. All of a sudden, he kissed me. And I mean, passionately and hard. I tried to fight him off but he was stronger than me. I know what I have to do. I used my telekinetic ability to move his arms away and flung him into the fountain.

"You bastard! Stay away from me! Just because we were 'supposed' to be together doesn't mean it'll ever happen! I am with Jasper for eternity. Don't you dare ever try anything like that again!

"Bella, I just wanted to see if I felt anything for you still! I wanted to know if there was even a hint of a spark in case the programming wasn't the only link I was to have to you!"

What a crock of shit. I wanted to enjoy the rest of the wedding and think about it later. Shit, do I tell Jas about this? We've never kept any secrets from each other. I didn't have long to think about it.

Cue my husband.

"What the fuck is going on? Bella, why did you do that to Edward?"

Shit, what do I say? "Um…"

"I kissed her," Edward replied for me, dryly. Phew.

Jasper's eyes widened. "Bella, is he who you want? Did you kiss him back?"

"Jasper, you know better than to ask me that! How could I want anyone but you?"

He nodded and then proceeded to help Edward out only to punch him in the stomach and then the face. "Don't ever, and I mean never, come near my woman again. She belongs to me and I belong to her. End. Of. Story."

Did I mention Jasper is the hottest husband _ever_? Oh yeah.

Later on, Jasper asked me if anything like that had ever happened before. Meaning, while I spent time with Edward on the song. Poor thing. I jumped him and, without needing words, proved to him my utter and total devotion. Nothing had happened with Edward but I shudder to think about Jasper in warrior mode if it had. It would be hot but bad. Very bad.

All in all, the wedding turned out really nice. Everyone had a great time and I'm sure people will be talking about the wedding for a long time to come.

Ang and Ben left that night to go on a month-long cruise to the Mediterranean, courtesy of Carlisle & Esme's wedding gift. My song was recorded along with Edward's original compositions that were played at the wedding. That was our gift. Jas and I gave them a toaster as a gag gift.

Angela promised to send me pictures & videos. We initially wanted to do a double honeymoon but then decided it would be too weird. Plus, both couples probably wouldn't see each other anyways because we wouldn't be leaving our rooms.

I haven't seen Edward since the wedding. I'm pretty sure he's been holed up in his room since then. I wonder how his relationship is going with Sahar? Did he tell her? Did he think I would if he didn't? I just don't know him well enough to know the answers to those questions. While what he did was totally wrong in so many ways, I can't help but feel sorry for him.

Jasper's POV

That. Fucking. Bastard. Bella & I are married! What the fuck was he thinking? He obviously wasn't thinking with the attached to his neck. Bella is mine. The logic is as simple as can be. Why doesn't he think he can do that!

I haven't talked to Bella much more after that. She showed me how much she loves me and knew I needed it. Not that I didn't know but sometimes, people just need to be reminded. I am so lucky to have her as my wife.

I did, however, visit the bastard in his room. I'm pretty sure he didn't want to let me in but eventually he did. I punched him a couple more times, gave him another look that basically said 'I will come back if I ever hear about this again' and left. I'd be in so much trouble if Bella found out. Normally I do not keep anything from her, ever. But, I'm pretty sure she'd kiss my ass for it. No, I'm positive she would. That woman has a hold on me like no other. I'll never tire of her.

* * *

**Wedding theme pictures on profile. This is actually where I got married - it's absolutely gorgeous!**


	14. Chapter 13: Creationism

**Chapter 13: Creationism**

Now that I've graduated college with honors (go me!), Carlisle told me he wanted me to work directly under him. That made me feel better, because I wanted to know exactly how I came to be. I have my theories but fact is always stranger than fiction, right?

We walked into the lab where I first met Carlisle. He turned around.

"Bella, do you know why we're starting here on your first day?"

I shook my head.

"No one, since Rosalie, has compared in intelligence and you, I believe, have surpassed hers. If anyone can help me improve my design, it would be you. I'm going to go over what I've done with Rosalie, Edward, Alice and Angela. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great. I'm looking forward to it."

"Ok then, let's begin." He led me over to a computer with a freaky large display monitor. It's like a plasma TV on steroids. I bet it can even display colors that have no name!

He opened up a document with design graphics. It began with the physical make-up.

"You see, your skin, as well as parts like eyes, nails...etc are organically grown to imitate the human equivalent. However, have you ever noticed that you don't scrape your knee or bleed and never needed glasses? You've never been to the hospital for a reason. Even though it's soft to the touch, it's impenetrable to any instrument currently available to the medical community or elsewhere besides the company that creates the product and the scientists who work with it. It's a good thing you've never wanted a tattoo. It wouldn't have been possible. Your skin would've broken their equipment.

"Um Carlisle, I hate to break it to you but Maria already marked me and I have a tattoo on my butt. They did it with some old looking knife. And, I've seen Angela bleed." I don't think he needs to know the knife looked infectious.

"Really. I'll have to look into that. From what I understood, that was impossible."

Ok, moving on…

Your skin has pores, just like a human does. However, they serve a different purpose. They monitor the temperature and environmental variables so you know when to put a sweater on, turn up the A/C, etc without needing your eyesight like a human would. Unlike my creations, you and Jasper do imitate sweat and are more realistic than other humanoids. There is no way for you to ever be hurt or mangled up. Fire will not do anything except singe your hair away. And, if that happens, you'd just have to wait for the hair to keep on its schedule or we could speed its schedule up temporarily."

"Wait, why can my ears be pierced, then?"

"Because we use a different type of special material in your ear lobes. It is still tough but is able to be pierced."

Your bones are created with a specific material, called 'basecks' that will never break. Its strength, in any size, is remarkable. The reason you were able to start off being a "baby" is because your skin and bones were on a growth schedule based on your programming. For example, I can make a change on your chip for you to grow a few more inches or have different physical attributes like your hair or eye color. Of course, it's not easy to do this unless you know what you're doing. We specifically made it difficult so that process cannot get in an amateur's hands.

I do have backup chips of the four I created but not of you and Jasper. Maria still has his documentation and, from what I understand, she has modified things since he was born. The scientist who created you, Eleazar, may have one but I'm not entirely sure if he does or where he is.

You do not carry blood. Instead, your body is "colored" in its design to make it look like you have veins. You do not have any internal organs like a liver, pancreas…etc. You do have a heart, but it doesn't function the way a human's heart does. Its function in humanoids is to work with the brain. Your brain is the programmed chip, deep in your neck. It sends signals to the heart, which basically talks to the body; bones for motor functions, skin coloring while blushing or tanning - all while the brain is busy processing mental activity. We need these two pieces for various reasons. One, there needs to be a noticeable delay between physical vs. mental abilities, especially while you were growing up without knowing what and who you are. For example, people would think it odd for you to hop on one leg and sing a song backwards without "trying" to think. Another reason would be something like if someone removed your chip and popped another in, it wouldn't be _you_ but the body would still function.

The reason you are warm to the touch is for two reasons. One, your skin is naturally insulated and two, you do produce BTUs whenever you have physical activity. The less you move, the more tired you feel. Think of it as a rechargeable battery, which in simplistic terms, it pretty much is.

It is not necessary for you to breathe. That is a learned trait as well as eating."

"How can I not need to eat?"

"Inside your body, you have something similar to a stomach and an excretory system. Basically, it takes the food you've eaten and compiles it to be released through your anal cavity. We tried to match the color of your excretions but weren't 100% sure if you'd notice anything different between your bowel movements vs. others. Have you?"

Well that's an uncomfortable question. Is he really asking me if I've looked at other people's….poop? "Um, no. I have never compared my poop to anyone else's nor do I have any inclination to, for future reference."

He smirked and continued. "You have always been very strong and very fast. Because you were not aware of your potential, you never bothered to test it. Do you have any other questions?"

Wow. That was a lot of information and I know it's going to be even more detailed on a molecular level. Hmm.

"What about my hair? How can it keep growing? Isn't it kind of like a wig?"

"Ah, yes. We took human hair samples and altered them to be able to act like basecks does. It will grow on a schedule, no matter if you cut it or not. The material in your ear lobes toughens completely by the time you're 18 and won't be able to be pierced again. Your hair is the only thing still left on your schedule. Everything else probably stopped when you turned 16, just like other people at the end of puberty and how I programmed Angela."

I shifted from one leg to another and looked down. Do I ask?

". Is that normal?"

"What?"

"I was having sex with Jasper and when I was having an orgasm, I felt myself squeezing him. Is that a normal human response? Is it only humanoid? Can all humanoid women do this?"

His whole face turned red. I can't just turn and ask someone else, he's all I got for any answers.

"Um, well, yes. Um. Physically, you were designed as a woman would be for…those functions and your heart was programmed to create an orgasm-like reaction. As a scientist, I suppose it would be good to ask questions about the experience but I really don't want to know, nor do I think you'd be willing to talk about it. Yes?"

"You don't want to talk about it? Of course I want to talk about it! The more information I have, the better. How else will I know if I'm doing it wrong or having a different reaction?"

He got even redder and looked down. Huh, I didn't think that was possible. "Bella, I…"

"Carlisle, if you don't feel comfortable in talking to me about this alone, then we could bring Rosalie here? She may have questions or insight into this subject."

At that suggestion, he popped his eyes back up and looked more willing than ever to stay alone. Score. Go me.

"Alright, let's go over your…version of events and then we can go over some…of your questions."

It is apparent that I had just had my first sex talk. Renee wasn't in my life all that much and Charlie sure as hell wasn't going to tackle it. Ang just had sex and didn't talk about it. I am a tad weirded out but feel better. Carlisle, on the other hand, looks like he wants to run far, far away. Basically, all I got out of the conversation was that I can suck, blow and squeeze the correct body parts like a human can.

However, he was even more mortified when I brought up not having a period. "Your, uh, period is synthetically created to mimic a normal menstrual, uh, cycle. Basically, it's the same as your saliva, tears and other fluids but the consistency and its makeup is the same, just in a different color. These fluids are contained in a sac and is processed before it comes out of your vaginal opening. So far, you are the only humanoid that can produce and process the menstrual cycle. Angela assumed she didn't get her cycle because of the abuse she endured but, in reality, I just couldn't figure out how to do it when I created her.

The doctors in Forks said their scans didn't work (I guess they thought the equipment was faulty even though now I know it's only because my skin is impenetrable). They diagnosed me as having failed ovaries as I aged. But, now I know better.

Continuing on…

"While I was at Maria's, Jasper trained us. During that time, we worked our muscles and such. Why the hell was I in so much pain? And why did my body change when I started working out? It got toner, I can feel the difference."

"That's part of your programming. Whatever a normal human would go through, it sends the signal to the brain to imitate pain. You don't have any muscles because you were born with strength but your brain knew what you were doing and adjusted your basecks accordingly. You do have some control over your physical design, just like a human could work out and go on a diet. The only difference is that you could never go under 100lbs. Maria never enlightened Jasper on our basic humanoid programming, therefore he was in the dark about pushing you past your limits."

"So, let me get this right. This is a mind over matter thing? All I had to do was tell my brain I didn't need to hurt and it would've stopped?"

"You'd have to practice it but, yes, that is correct. Humanoids are above the intelligence quotient when they're programmed, so it's easy to get good grades and excel in anything intellectual."

Fuck me sideways. You have got to be kidding me. By the look on his face, I'm pretty sure he's not kidding. "So, it was intentionally easy for me to graduate with honors?"

"Well, yes and no. You still have to work at learning but it comes easier to you to learn and remember information than it would a human. You have the capacity to use 100% of your brain at an incredibly fast rate. Humans couldn't keep up with your intellectual processing speed. That is also why you shouldn't bring yourself into escalated public view. Meaning, don't be famous for anything. You don't want to attract attention to find yourself in a government testing facility that you'll never escape. They don't know about us because this project originated in Italy."

And here I was thinking it would be easy for a Nobel. Guess that's not in my immediate future. "So, being a famous musician would've been bad?"

"Yes and no. Yes because, like I said, it's not good to be in the public eye. No, because there are many musicians and the music your band was playing was….how should I phrase this…bad."

Fabulous. Everybody's a critic!

"Sleeping is a choice for you. The fact that you had insomnia proves it. Your body knew it didn't need it but your brain was telling you it was time to do it because of your schedule. You must have had a glitch or something. That's what would've caused the insomnia. It is recommended that you sleep. Everyone does need rest and sometimes you need to relax from the stresses of life."

"Carlisle, I'm sorry but I'm having a hard time understanding that. Are you saying I was at war within myself and that's what caused the insomnia?"

"Well, more like a battle, but yes." He had a hint of a smile. This is not funny! How often does your body go into battle? I'll have to wait until I get back to my room and dissect this information.

Ok, moving on.

"So, what is it that I can help advance with?"

"Well, I've somewhat been able to reproduce the special strengths Eleazar did to a degree. Rose told you how you're a telepath and a shield? Since I don't have a backup chip for you, I can't take the risk of taking your chip out and something possibly happening to you. I've been able to give Edward the gift of mindreading and Alice can see the future but to a limited degree. Both of these happed as flukes. Angela hasn't displayed any 'special' gifts other than the normal humanoid strengths.

I want to know how to reproduce it on purpose, with possible other gifts. I also want a hidden upload/download port to allow me to access the chip without physically removing it. Therefore, it has to be a secret design that can only be between you and me. One of the other reasons for entrusting this with you is because you're a humanoid and won't die. I am a human; I will."

"Since you are a human, are you going to pursue a body downloading yourself and becoming a humanoid as you offered to do for Emmett? You do have a lot of knowledge that seems like it would go to waste if anything should happen to me or your documentation. No offense, but you're not exactly getting any younger. Is there even such a thing as retirement as an option for you?"

"Bella, I have thought about it and, while you make valid points, I'm not so sure I want to live forever. I'll need to give it further thought to make a final decision but, at this point, it doesn't interest me."

"What about Esme? How does downloading even work?"

"I think I will most likely find her in my next life, just as I probably did in my previous one. I believe we have destinies and she is mine. As far as how it works, it is very complicated. It must be done while the person is alive. Depending on how much brain capacity the human is using, the longer it'll take to download.

Basically, we would use this machine over here, called a NeuroCat. There are electrodes that connect to a human's head in various locations, like the Neocortex, Limbic and Hindbrain areas. It will send electronic signal stimulants using nanotechnology. You can speak with Dr. Lars Lawbog, Ph.D if you want to know more about the device."

I wonder how long it'll take for him to come to a final decision about whether he wants to live forever or not. Ok, moving on. "Back to the project. You're asking a lot. Do you have a timetable?"

"Actually, I'm willing to work on this for as long as it takes. We have endless resources for R & D. Currently, the physical supplies are limited as they are not made too often, of course. We have a specific supplier to bring us only the very best quality. However, I don't want to order anything until we're fully ready for a test subject."

"Sounds like a plan. Where do you want to start?"

"Let's go over the physical design and then proceed from there. Yes?"

"Let's do it." Fuck cashiering. Scientism all the way, baby!

"Let me show you around the equipment. You're probably aware of most of this but, as you can understand, some of this is not in any curriculum. I don't trust just anyone with creation knowledge. I don't want anyone trying to play God."

That's funny because I've been thinking all along that he has a God complex. Interesting.

He led us over to machine #1. "This is a machine specifically designed to test the physical dynamics on a computerized level. Basically, it'll tell us if the current design will accept our proposed changes or not. It's called a Physimil."

Cue machine #2.

"This machine designs the actual physical appearance, called a Physapp. The facial structure, height, weight, jawline, eye color…and so on. This process has to be done before every creation is put together in the capsule. There is no 'default' creation schema. Once you create a design, you can view the image before sending it for final growth.

Cue different sized capsules.

"This is where we 'grow' the creations. These capsules put all of the components together and fuse it into a working body. These bodies are not active, of course, until the chip is installed and activated. I've found I can create babies as well as adults. Alice was born as an adult, so she knows nothing about being a child. Sometimes I think she acts like one just for the experience! Edward was created as a teenage boy and Angela started as a baby, like you.

The computers you see here all have a different purpose. I'd like you to work on one simulated creation and then we'll go from there. We won't actually create it until we figure out the special gifts algorithms. I want my creations to have as many advantages as possible, out of safety concerns."

This is where I get confused as to his motives. If he's not building an army like the Volturi Brothers wanted, what the hell is the point of ensuring special gifts for humanoids? I'll bide my time on finding out. I want to get to know him and his process better before I jump to any conclusions. I better not do anything to screw this up. He's not willing to let just anyone work with him on this.

Oh and the reason he wants to work with me? Rose is still PO'ed about the whole no babies and not dying thing in her future and hasn't come to a decision still about staying "alive" or keeping Emmett forever with her. I'm sure Emmett shits on himself every time he thinks about it but can you blame him? His forever is in Rose's hands.

I'd like Rose to work with me on this project since she has so much experience but…it's just not possible.

After spending what seemed like forever with Carlisle but was probably closer to only about 5 hours, I went back to find Jas. It wasn't too hard, he was reading in our bed, which I plopped on as soon as I was close enough.

"Hey darlin, I take it you're tired?"

What gave you that idea? "Yeah, I'm mentally drained and I found out today that I don't have to be! Go figure."

He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Ugh, never mind. We went over a lot today."

"You want me to make you better all nice and better?" He had this mischievous look on him. How can I say no to _that_?

My face was in my pillow. I turned to him and said, "Darling, you can do anything your heart desires to me."

Shit, his eyes just darkened. What. Have. I. Just. Done?

"You asked for it, my dear lady. Just try and relax."

He started rubbing my shoulders, arms, torso, butt and legs. A full body massage, concentrating a tad too long on my butt. He is a dream come true! Ugh, that feels soooo good. It could be my imagination but it felt like he was intentionally brushing inside my inner thighs, We flipped me over and I soon got confirmation. He started fondling me to get me all hot and bothered because that is just what men do.

What was it I wanted to do again? Yeah, sleep isn't on the agenda anymore. I got a hot man wanting to have booty with me. I have to treasure moments like these!

He very, very slowly unbuttoned my jeans and slid them off. I started to remove my shirt but he stopped me.

"Stay put and don't move. This is all about you, darlin'."

Oooh, I like when he takes charge. Feminism has no place in our bed. Or table. Or closet. Ok, you get the picture.

He continued to massage me while still getting me all riled up. I swear he can make me wet within seconds of touching me. I wonder how me being wet down there can be explained scientifically?

Focus, Bella! I am so stupid sometimes.

All of a sudden, I feel Jasper's hand start squeezing my breast and the other is pinching and tweaking my nipple. He opened my button down shirt and took the nipple into his mouth. I think this is how new mothers feel with a baby sucking their nipple. This shit hurts and it doesn't look like he's letting up. He looks like he's enjoying himself, so should I say anything? Nah, he won't be on this for that much longer.

6 minutes and 37 second later, he stopped messing with my nipples. Did I mention I was stupid? I definitely should've said something. He put his fingers between my lower lips, going back and forth from my anus to my clit but didn't enter me at all. I was close to screaming and begging for him to move on and stop teasing me.

I moved my hips up and into him, showing him that it's time for progress. "Calentame. Chimame! _Fuck Me!_

"Ay Bella mi amor, quiero comer tu coño!" _I want to eat your pussy!_

By the way he was moving his hips all around and pounding into me, I thought he was trying to kick a soccer ball into the goal, over and over again. It was fucking fantastic!

We came at the same time and heaved our breaths. No time like to present for snuggling up and taking a nap with him. He spooned me and I felt so safe and loved, like never before.


	15. Chapter 14: Elijah

**Chapter 14: Elijah**

I woke up a little while later, completely refreshed. While I now know I technically don't have to sleep, I find it makes me feel better to have a sense of normality.

I showered and got dressed, ready for my second day at work. I walked into Carlisle's office to start my first official design.

"So, Bella, have you thought about what to start with? Do you want to start with a baby, toddler, older child, teenager or adult? Just understand, each age group has specific behaviors in the original programming. So, if you're going to start with a toddler, be prepared to deal with the terrible two's."

Huh. I didn't think of that. No, I'm not ready for a young kid. "Carlisle, I was thinking maybe a 19 or 20 year old man. I've always thought of Seth as a little brother, so maybe something along those lines."

He got this strange look, as if recalling a sad memory.

"Bella, I have a confession to make."

Ooooh, this sounds juicy. I motioned for him to continue with my hand.

"You weren't the only humanoid created by Eleazar. He did create one other by the name of Elijah. For all intents and purposes, he is your little brother."

What. The. Fuck. He lied to me? I have a brother? Why would he keep this from me, all this time?

"I was not able to take him with us, as he disappeared at the same time Eleazar did. My only guess is that they left the Volturi together. I don't know what happened to him but I do know he looks a lot like you. I saw him before he was activated and you're almost identical twins. He was built to start out as a 4 year old but, as far as I'm aware, wasn't activated at the time you were 'born.' What I do know is that Eleazar made you special in another sense. If he has been activated, you would be able to find his beacon through your own sensor, since you are, for all intents and purposes, related. I believe the same to be true on his end."

How do I do that? Do I just will myself to? As if reading my mind, he said, "I don't know how you activate the sensor since Eleazar didn't share all of his documentation with me. I can try hypnosis and see if that'll work. Your original programming is different than what I wrote for Edward, Alice, Angela and Rose. I can't just download your memories like them and view them at will. Eleazar used different algorithms with you."

"Well, it's worth a shot. Let's do it."

We walked to the hologram room and Carlisle made it look like a lab similar to ours but different. He had me close my eyes and told me to think of my favorite ice cream. Strange. What does pistachio have anything to do with it? But, while I was thinking about it, he started counting down some numbers and I fell into a dream although it felt very real, as if I was still wide awake.

I can see the paintings and décor on the wall with a sign on the open door in gold letters: Volturi Brothers. Interesting. Then I heard Carlisle's voice.

"Bella, I am here with you. This is what it looked like before I left. The man you see to the left there is Eleazar. I guess you could identify with him as your father, since he is your creator."

The man I was staring at was staring back at me. It was pretty freaky. I had to look away. It was so realistic being in this room. What I did notice, however, is that we looked alike. There was a capsule that he was standing in front of.

It opened up and…Oh. My. Fucking. Lord. The kid in the capsule is a smaller version of the kid from the hibachi restaurant.

"Carlisle, I've seen that kid!"

His eyes widened. "How? When? Tell me everything you remember."

"Well, it was before we came here and the four of us stopped at a hibachi restaurant…" I went on to explain how the kid was just staring at us. Now it makes sense as to why. I wonder if he knew who I was? Did he know how to find me? Why didn't he approach me and talk to me? Was it because I was with Jas and RoMet?

"Carlisle, that kid is probably 9 or 10 years old. Would Eleazar have taken this long to activate him? Do you think the kid is alone? Did he activate the sensor himself or was it pure coincidence that we were in the same restaurant?"

He thought for a moment. "I doubt it was a coincidence. If you don't remember who he was sitting with, chances are he was alone. I don't know how the sensor is activated but apparently he wants to find you. I don't know how much money he has access to or if he has any special abilities. Knowing Eleazar, he has at least one. Bella, we need to find him and bring him here. We can keep him safe. Away from the Volturi Brothers."

I have to agree somewhat. On one hand, I don't want him to go under a microscope from Carlisle but my imagination says being with the Volturi would be worse for him. That kid has got to be scared. I wonder what his personality is like. Is he mature for his age? I can't imagine what it's like to be alone. He could tell me about Eleazar! Maybe he knows where he is?

"Ok, Carlisle, let's find him."

He counted some numbers again and snapped his fingers to wake me up. I opened my eyes to find Carlisle sitting on a couch, legs crossed and hands in his lap. He looked relaxed and excited at the same time.

"So, Bella, the best way to start the search would be with not only going back to Phoenix and that sushi restaurant, but also start meditating. I want to see if that can help you trigger the sensor."

"Good idea. Jasper meditates often. I'll ask him to help me. How about I take him with if the meditation here doesn't work?"

"That sounds like a plan. Would you mind taking Edward with you? Along with Jasper? He's very good at field work."

"Ok, sure."

I found Jasper in our bedroom. Does it seem like he's ever anywhere else?

"Hey Jas, we're going on a field trip with Edward."

He raised one eyebrow. "Where? Why?"

"We're going to find my long lost brother! His name is Elijah." He looked at me like I grew a third head. I explained what Carlisle told me and got him up to speed.

We went to the gym and they had a room with padded floors. He turned on some soothing music by Enya and had me sit in the clichéd meditation position around a shitload of lit candles. Shouldn't I be in a bath or on a comfy couch instead of a yoga mat?

"Relax your mind and empty all thoughts. Findin' a hum you can do will help you relax. When you are in your happy place, see if you can visualize Elijah. See if you can start a conversation with him."

I tried. I really did try but I'd be lying if I said it happened on my first shot or even my first day. All I got was a whole lotta nothing. On my fourth day, though, Jasper gave me a kiss before we started and that put me in my happy place right away. I love him so much. He knew how frustrated I was getting.

I relaxed and, this time, pictured myself in a meadow. It looked similar to the one I went to with Jasper at Maria's compound. The one near the creek. The flowers were in bloom and everything was so colorful and beautiful. I started looking around and spun in a circle like wonder woman, just to make myself dizzy and fall on the ground, staring up at the sun. Since it was meditation and technically not real, I didn't even get those sun spots that basically blind you for a while. Crazy, I know, but it made sense for me to do at the moment. I closed my eyes and basked in the warmth. All of a sudden, I felt shaded. I opened my eyes and saw him. Elijah.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello Bella. You found a way to communicate with me. I knew you could. I knew that if we got to see each other at least once, you'd be able to do this."

This kid is way smarter than me. "I'm glad I know you exist now. Can we meet in real life?"

"That would be nice but I'd rather you not bring anyone. Do not worry about your safety but you would be putting others in harm's way. Eleazar told me about Carlisle and his methods. He probably wants to send someone with you? Other than who you'd have chosen?"

"Yes."

"Don't. It's a trap. Not in the sense you'd be in danger but in the sense that I would be. I will tell you more later but you must meet with me alone, at least in the beginning."

This was starting to sound weird but I can't help my own curiosity. Surely my own brother wouldn't put me in any danger?

"Ok. Where and when?"

I went back to my room and laid on the bed by myself, taking all of this in. Will my life ever be dull? Nope, I'm pretty sure it won't.

I heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it. Alice? She and I were slowly, and I do mean slowly, becoming friends. Did I forget to call her or meet with her? Shit, I forgot to look in my calendar this morning.

"Hi. Um, can we talk?" She had this strange and hesitant look on her face.

"Of course. What's up?" Please let this not be a major screw up. I'm mentally kicking myself for not knowing why she's here.

"Well, I know you're taking a trip soon." How does she know that? And then it clicked. She can see the limited future, based on someone's decisions.

"Yes. Did you see something happen?"

"Well, that's the thing. Normally I can see you but you will disappear within 48 hours. I can't tell if you're coming back. Can you tell me what's going on? Can I help?"

I almost don't know who to trust anymore. The only closest person that has ever been 100% upfront and honest with me is Jas. I have some reservations about Edward and I don't know if Alice has my best interests. That sounds awful, even to me, but I just feel so paranoid lately.

"Alice, I appreciate your concern but I can't tell you. Try not to worry about me. Everything will be fine." I tried to smile my most convincing smile ever and it seemed to placate her.

"Ok, but please know you can tell me anything. I will always try to help you."

"Ok, thanks Alice."

She left after we hugged. I started packing a small bag with a couple of day's worth of clothes and snacks for us. Jasper walked in and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Hey darlin', are we leavin for that field trip soon?"

"Jas, I need you to trust me. I will tell you everything but we must leave now. Hurry!" Thank goodness he loves and trusts me. He started packing a light bag right away.

We left the compound in a nice 4x4 SUV, as fast as it could go. I didn't want to chance telling him anything until we reached some safety area. For all I know, the car may be bugged.

We drove into Anchorage and went shopping for some clothes. We quickly changed into what we bought and ditched what we'd been wearing in the SUV. I booked a room at the Marriott Hotel and sat him down.

"Honey, this may shock you but I will probably sound paranoid. There's a good reason for it. I'm not sure who I can safely believe but I know you're the only one I feel certain of for sure. Elijah wanted to meet with me alone but I convinced him to let you be there. I'm scared to meet alone for many reasons and I need you there. Is that ok?"

"Sure darlin, but why all the secrecy?"

"Well, apparently Eleazar doesn't trust pretty much anybody and they did have their reservations about you but I explained the modifications and how Maria was taken care of." He nodded and motioned for me to continue.

"Ok, we need to get to the airport in the morning and take the first flight out to Arizona."

The next morning, we were able to catch a red-eye at 3 freaking 30 am. I really wonder about my intelligence at times like these. Why couldn't I just have waited a couple more hours? Oh that's right, I'm in stealth mode. Uh, yeah. Plus, I really am excited to meet Elijah.

Once we landed, I rented a car and we sped off to the hibachi restaurant. Elijah said he lives underneath it. Strange. We went to the side and found a place in their parking lot that had the number 5 on it. All of the spots were numbered but apparently number 5 is the special one. When I parked there, I saw a red light beam into my eyes and the ground was slowly lowering us. That was a little scary. Ok no. It's a lot scary. We finally stopped about half a mile down. Yes, I counted.

Come to find out, he doesn't live directly underneath. We got out of the car and I saw Elijah on a floating plasma screen in front of 4 lit hallways. I'm just waiting for the twilight zone music to begin at any moment.

"Hi Bella. Hi Jasper. Welcome. I will guide Bella, telepathically, on getting to me. I cannot speak it at all aloud. Jasper, I hope you understand."

Jasper nodded his acknowledgement.

Of course there are tunnels, elevators and security galore because my life, after all, is one giant fucking adventure. It was worse than a corn maze once we got done with all the stupid verifications and crap! I am absolutely certain I would be lost there forever – that's how sure I am of the need for an escort on the way out. Sad, but true.

After going through a buttload of eye scans, voice recognition tests…etc, we finally came to a big freaking metallic door. It reminded me of something you'd see at a bank vault but I'm pretty sure nothing, and I mean nothing, can penetrate this baby.

The door opened and, on the other side, stood my brother.

In some ways, I think I've always known he was missing from my life. Perhaps Seth was a temporary replacement for his absence and I somehow always knew it. I can't wait to get to know him and see how close we are. I already feel such a kinship with him – it's just too hard to describe. My emotions were all over the place; happiness, sadness, comfort and peace.

I ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug, I'm sure, of his life. Or existence. I heard some muffled sound and pulled away. Sure enough, he was trying to talk. Aren't all big sisters supposed to smother their siblings? I thought that's part of the job description?

"Hi Bella. I'm so glad you're finally here! You can call me Eli from now on."

I grabbed Jas's hand and he shook hands with Eli. That has a nice ring to it. They nodded at each other silently and it was like they were having a conversation with facial expressions. Weird. But, it works for them, I guess.

"Bella, are those clothes new? Do you have anything with Carlisle's compound with you?"

"No, everything from there is at the hotel. We bought these as soon as we arrived and the car is a rental."

"Ok, good."

We went into a white, sterile room with some medical equipment and fancy computers. He took out a cable and told me he needed to connect to my chip in my neck. He wanted to turn off our homing beacons. I looked at Jas. Was this a good idea? What if this is a trap? What if I _wanted_ to be found? Jasper nodded at me to let me know he was ok with allowing Eli to do it. I turned to Eli and said, "You can turn it off for now but I'd like you to enable it later, as a security precaution."

"Fair enough. But I'll need to do it away from the restaurant, just in case. You can't be followed or detected here in theory but, once above ground, they can see your location and I don't want to run the risk of anyone finding out where we are. Is that ok?"

"Yes. I'm good with that."

"Want to meet your creator?"

My eyes widened. I get to meet Eleazar? "Absolutely! Show me the way!"

We left the room and went down a few more hallways and a couple of elevators. We're probably about two miles beneath ground, I'd guess. How long did it take to build this place? We walked up to a red door. Eli turned around. "Eleazar is human, please remember that. He's been getting older and has had some health complications." With that, he opened the door.

* * *

**Would you like to see an outtake? Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for reading!**


	16. Outtake: When Ro Met Em

**Outtake #2: When Ro Met Em**

**Rosalie's POV**

4 years ago

I was in an advanced human dynamics class when I saw him. Wow, he was simply the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Brown eyes, short brown curls and all muscle. Everything about him just called to me.

"Hey gorgeous, is your dad a baker?"

I didn't understand. Did he not know who I was? That I am a humanoid? I shook my head, frowning at the question.

"Cause you're such a cutie pie!"

He's using a pick-up line on me? All of a sudden I heard laughter behind him. I looked to the source and expected a hyena. Instead, I saw Edward Cullen. Fucking unbelievable. I finally meet the guy of my dreams and he's an asshole. Go figure.

I turned around and went back to my seat. Fuck 'em. They both kept laughing like hyenas.

I can't say I've had the best luck with any relationships. People have never expected much out of me intellectually because I'm beautiful. Yes, I am a little vain (ok maybe a lot). What people don't know about me is that I am very smart but downplay it. You know the saying? Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer? Yeah, I abide by that. I have yet to meet anyone I can call my friend without thinking of them as a possible enemy. I thought Emmett was different but he ended up being just like the others. It made me sad – Emmett seemed like a good guy but he put off this idiot persona to look "manly." Whatever.

I'd always lived in the compound. I'd never actually been out of the compound and I'd never questioned it, even. I dated a guy named Royce. He was a human, not a humanoid. At first it seemed like he wanted to treat me like a lady and not just date me for my looks. Then, I noticed the subtle changes but refused to acknowledge them as warning signs. Like, he held me roughly sometimes and started pressuring me for sex. He stopped being sweet and talked down to me, as if I was the stupidest creature ever. But, my Royce would never hurt me, right?

Well, I soon found out I was wrong and that I should've listened to my instincts. He tried rape me; however, humanoids are stronger than regular humans. It wasn't hard to pin him down and knock him out. But, it did hurt me emotionally. Ever since then, I've shut myself down.

I was always crying in the hallway after seeing Royce. He got into trouble but since nothing had happened, all he got was a warning. Every time I see him, he makes disgusting faces at me and says lewd comments. But today, after yet another crying fit, everything went black.

I woke up on Royce's bed. His buddies had apparently tranquilized me and, although I was now awake, I was numb and couldn't move my limbs. I knew what he was going to do but I couldn't stop it. I started calling for help but he just slapped me.

"Shut up! No one is going to help you! You'll be all mine, now. Now you'll see what you've been missing out on, Miss-I'm-too-good-for-you."

I just kept crying more and more. His friends were laughing it up, too. It was disgusting.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and Emmett comes in. As soon as he saw me, he roared and was so ferocious looking. Was he here to help me?

He started attacking everyone, calling them names and making them wish they'd never been born. If I hadn't been so numbed up, I'd have loved to help him.

"Emmett?" I called out.

He looked up. "Yes?"

"Please knock Royce out but don't finish him. Save him for me to deal with."

He got this goofy look on his face and nodded.

We've been together ever since.

* * *

**Short but sweet. Any other outtake you guys would like?**

**Reviews would be nice and I'd love to know what you guys think!**


	17. Chapter 15: Eleazar

**Chapter 15: Eleazar**

An old man in a wheelchair looked up. He had white hair and his crow's feet appeared when he smiled. He was dressed casually, with a long sleeved shirt and jeans. I didn't expect him to be dressed so casually but…whatever.

"Hello Bella. It's been a long time."

I went up to him and gave him a hug. Somehow, this felt…right. He is my father, after all. As clichéd as it sounds, I feel like my life is complete. I never knew anything was missing. Strange. Even though Charlie raised me (sort of), I feel more of a kinship with Eleazar than him.

"Eleazar, this is Jasper. Perhaps you remember him?"

He looked over at Jas and smiled. "Ah yes, Maria's project. How are you?"

"Good, sir. Thanks." Jasper seemed calm enough. I can't imagine just how strange this is to him.

"Well, I'm sure you have plenty of questions and I can probably answer them all. How long will you be here? Would you like to get somewhat settled?"

"Sure, we can stay for at least a few days."

Eleazar gave Eli a look and Eli motioned with his arm to follow him. He brought us to a very nice room with a huge bed. That shit is way bigger than a king sized bed. Eli left us to unwind. I jumped on the bed. It is so soft!

"Uh, Bella, could we talk? Why didn't you check with me before agreeing to stay here? Not that I would've said no, but it would've been nice to have a say."

"Oh fuck. I am so sorry Jasper. It's just, I never thought I'd meet Eli or Eleazar and I just feel so at…home. I can't explain it. It's like I finally found peace and my life is complete with you and them. I don't know how else to describe it."

"If it's that important to you, darlin', then it's important to me, too. We can stay as long as you like."

Did I mention I adore this man? He is fucking amazing. Basically, just blindingly trusting me. "I love you. You are too good to be true."

"Other way around, baby. I'm so happy we're together. You are mine and I am yours."

"I love the sound of that." I heard a small chuckle and turned to the door. Eli was fighting a smile.

"Um, sorry to interrupt your proclamation of love but I prepared some lunch if you're hungry."

"Yeah, lunch sounds great. Jas?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Eli brought us to a dining room, if you could call it that. It had a beautiful cherry wood table with matching chairs. There were exquisite paintings and textured walls. Yes, I touched the walls. No wallpaper here. Although, I'm really not surprised. No one, so far, does anything half-assed. We sat down and Eli opened a small door. He rattled off some instructions and our food appeared inside. It was like a customized food generated from a microwave sized machine. What. The. Fuck?

"Ah yes, I don't believe you've ever seen one of these. Eleazar and I have worked on creating the latest and greatest inventions to make living here a lot easier simply from not going to the surface often enough. The food is auto-generated on a molecular level. Totally safe to eat, believe me. You know we don't have to eat but I thought I'd extend the courtesy since we can join Eleazar while he eats."

"What are we eating?"

He served us a salad, a perfect filet mignon, and diced potatoes mixed with cilantro and red peppers. He topped it off with white wine. I suddenly had a thought when I saw the wine. "Eleazar, is it possible for a humanoid to get drunk?"

He chuckled. "It's all in your head. If you believe to be intoxicated, then that's how your body will believe to act. It's all just a state of mind."

So basically I didn't have to drag Angela's ass home every time she got drunk? Damnit. Bitch's body was faking it.

The food was delicious. "Eli, you're quite the cook," I said sarcastically.

He smiled. I'm not sure if he picked up on my sarcasm but, regardless, he didn't acknowledge it. "Thanks Bella. So, tell me about you and Jasper. What has your life been like?"

I skimmed over detailed parts and gave him generalized information. Even though I felt at home, I still wanted to be cautious, just in case. Jasper picked up on my hesitation and chimed in when I'd started to delve into something too private. He moved the conversation in different directions and went off on tangents. Eli & Eleazar seemed fascinated by our dynamic. I have to admit, I love how well balanced our relationship is.

After lunch, we joined them in a lab. They spoke very truthfully and didn't want to hide anything. Apparently they trusted me fully.

"Well, why don't we start with your questions and then proceed from there?"

This is exactly what I wanted to do. "Ok, since I have so many questions, how about I write them down and you can answer them as your pace?"

"Ok."

I wrote my list:

_1) Do you have a copy of my programming chip?_

_2) Is my design documentation here? If so, can I see it?_

_3) Why did you take Eli but not me?_

_4) When did you activate Eli?_

_5) Why did you leave the Volturi Brothers? Was it for the same reason Carlisle did?_

_6) Why do you live here?_

I figured this was a good starting point. Eleazar looked at it and smiled.

"Well, you get right to the guts. I can't say I'm not surprised. I built you to be as intelligent as it gets. I'm positive you've surpassed my expectations."

I blushed.

"Ok, your answers. Yes, yes and yes. I have a copy of everything in my safe here and a safe storage away from here. Eli knows where. No offense, Jasper, but I would only entrust this information with Bella and Eli."

"None taken, sir."

He continued. "I did leave for the same concerns Carlisle did. I learned of the plans and ran just as fast but sooner than he did, since he was taking everything with him. He had already packed you up and, I found out later, made arrangements for you to be adopted. I figured it would be good for you to have real life world experience, hidden away from the Volturi anyways. I always knew we'd meet again.

Eli was activated a few years after you. I spent a lot of time programming him and perfecting my design. Eli has different gifts than you do. While you are a shield and can do telekinesis, he can read minds and put thoughts in. That, of course, won't work with you unless you drop your shield but it will with anyone else. He also has the power of control. Those thoughts he puts into someone's head can make them believe the need to take a certain course of action."

I saw Jas get extremely uncomfortable. "Uh. Can we agree never to do that to Jasper?"

"Yes. But you can, too. Your shield can be extended. We can work on finding the exact expansion distance but you're a remarkable young woman and I'm positive it will go far. You have been on a schedule but, I never created an end for you, so your skin will look like it will wrinkle and sag. Would you like to stop aging now?"

Is this a trick question? "Of course. Please."

"Ok, we'll do that later after Q&A. The reason Maria could cut your skin is because of the knife she used. Very few instruments can mold the skin but, of course, there has to be some in order to create your bodies, right?"

Well that makes complete sense! "I saw Angela's knee bleed when she was younger. If our skin is impenetrable and we don't carry blood, how was that possible?" I couldn't wait for him to explain this.

"Another very good question. Obviously, it wasn't blood. You and Eli were created differently, as you are aware. The configuration of the skin substance I used was something I never shared, so Carlisle's and Maria's humanoids differed. She bled because her programming told her to. It allowed her knee to 'look' like it was bleeding and even secrete a substance that looks like blood. Luckily, that blood was never tested, otherwise they wouldn't have found any DNA…etc. That's why humanoids on the outside had to be watched carefully to ensure people don't get too suspicious."

Ah. I am officially enlightened. Is there anything this man _doesn't_ know? I nodded for him to continue.

"Let's see. Ah yes. Why I live here. Well, I live here because it's safe from scrutiny. Away from the Volturi, Carlisle and anyone else that gets a little too curious. I know what happened to Renee and I'm sorry about that. Eli is my companion and will most likely be with me until I die. I have uploaded my brain on a regular basis, in case he needs to access any of my memories although he has a perfect photographic memory and I doubt he'll ever need to. However, it's more for you than him. Your memory is good but not quite photographic.

Bella, because I have made advancements in his design, I'd like to be able to make improvements to yours. For Jasper's sake, I will download your current profile onto a chip and give it to Jasper. I will teach him how to implant it in case he has any reservations about anything we do to you. Agreed?"

I looked over at Jasper and he looked so relieved. I can only imagine how insane and incredible this sounds to him. After being with a maniacal witch who only wanted to control him, he wasn't used to a creator who cared about helping strengthen you.

"Yes, sir."

"Jasper, if you're willing, I can look at your programming and go over any changes you may want to consider. I can't imagine Maria doing enough to achieve your fullest potential. What do you say?"

"Please do not take this the wrong way, sir, but I do not know you yet so I cannot fully trust you. Bella trusts you and so I will be here for her. Once I see her changes, I will make my decision then."

"Of course, I fully understand. I would feel the same way if I was you but I wanted to keep the invitation open, in case you wanted it. Bella, shall we begin?"

I nodded.

Eleazar motioned for me to lay down on a cot on my stomach and used a laser at the base of my neck. Shouldn't I feel pain? Maybe the mind over matter thing I've been working on is finally working. All of a sudden, blankness overtook me.

Jasper's POV

As soon as he did something to the back of her neck, she dropped…dead? Holy fucking shit. She looks dead. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

Eleazar looked at me. "I had to remove her chip to copy it and study it to make sure there weren't any changes. Also, I wanted to download her memories and view her life up to now. I am her father, I'd say it is my right to know but she also agreed to it. Please stay patient. I only have her best interests at heart."

Fuck. I wish I'd taken some medical courses to find out and keep up with what they're doing. Eli looked at me with sympathy and just nodded his head. I felt a little better. I'm pretty sure I can trust him because I've seen the love he's displayed for Bella. It's a genuine parental love. I know Bella hasn't noticed it probably as much as I have, since I've been observing this whole time. I'm so lucky to have her but damn if she's too trusting sometimes.

I saw Eleazar put her chip in some machine that looks like a card scanner. He gave me her chip's copy before he started. He has some fucking impenetrable safe in the lab that he opened to grab it. I felt a little better having that in my hands. While the thing was doing its scanning process, he put the chip in my hand into some other machine and something displayed on the screen that I hadn't noticed until now existed.

"See, Jasper. This is her template, if you will, of her programming as a baby. This is what she started with. You can see her name pre-programmed so she knew at least knew that if anything ever happened to her, like a memory erase – although I doubt that would ever be successful by anyone. She has special identities that link her to us and actually to you as well. Of course, the link to you is not on this chip, since her chip was installed before she met you. I see the bond between you two is very strong."

"Yes, Maria erased my memories but I was able to somehow recall everything, like I triggered an undelete function. Carlisle changed my programming for that to never happen again, and Rose removed a homing beacon Maria installed to make sure I stay committed to her at all times."

"Yes, she was quite the control freak. She never let me see your design but, seeing as how I'm the one that trained her, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to understand it just fine. Once you get to know me, you'll find me to be trustworthy; I know it."

I didn't say anything, just nodded for him to continue. I looked at the crazy language on the screen and hoped there was some way to convert it to English. I don't understand hex or whatever the fuck language it was on the screen.

As if he could read my mind, he explained the screen's display to me. "It's a special language developed by me. There is no way to learn it other than through Eli or me. I can teach it to you, if you'd like. It would take more than a few days, though. Are you up for staying longer?"

"I'll have to consider it, doc. But, I am interested." There was a beep just then and it looks like Bella's chip upload was successful. He put the chip back into her neck and lasered it back up. She opened her eyes up slowly.

"Hey darlin', how do ya feel?"

"Discombobulated but awake. What happened?"

I explained what Eleazar did. She looked relieved the process only took a few minutes but then disappointed. I think she may have been expecting it to take more time, given how much information her brain had. Eleazar must've caught on to that, too.

"Bella, my machine is a lot faster than Carlisle's. Just because it's faster doesn't mean you have less data." I think she breathed a sigh of relief.

Eleazar excused us to our bedroom, saying he'll need some time to look at the data and see what changes were made as well as what improvements he can incorporate. Honestly, I was glad to get the fuck out of there and spend some alone time with Bella. It just hasn't been enough lately.

Eli stopped us right before we got to the door. "I'll bring you dinner in a couple hours and you can eat it there. I'm sure you'll want some privacy. It's been a long day and I want to give you some downtime to recharge." He laughed, as if his joke was extremely original. I wonder if they watch TV or movies here? Yeah, as if cable or satellite work here.

We got to the bedroom and she just attacked me. I guess she couldn't wait anymore and I'm not complaining. Damn that girl is feisty. I wonder if our room is soundproof but I couldn't bring myself to care long enough to hold on to that thought.

Bella's POV

Today has been such an eye opener. I wish Carlisle had been more forthcoming. I believe Eleazar completely. Not only does he have no reason to lie, I just know I can trust him. There's something about him that makes me feel that way. I don't know if it's just my programming or him being my father or something else, but I know in my gut that I can.

When we got into the bedroom, I just had to touch and taste Jasper. Eli read me pretty well. I only had a couple hours to ravish Jas and I may as well use my time wisely. I got on my knees and looked at Jasper. His eyes were staring straight into my soul. It was like we were linked as much as it was possible, there's no other way to explain it. It just felt good. I don't know if it's this place or the current events finally making themselves known, but I'm so glad.

I licked his head and down to JFoJ. I went down to his balls and sucked on each one of them…hard. He yelped and I guess I don't know my own strength. I lightened up a little but still sucked with some force. He threw his head back and I could tell he was clearly enjoying himself. I moved my mouth to his cock and I started bobbing my head back and forth while squeezing his thighs and his ass. I felt some liquid running down my thigh. Did I have an orgasm without knowing it? Last time I had moisture there was after an orgasm. I couldn't think any more about it since I felt his…stuff… go down my throat. It tastes pretty bland. I got some right beneath my lower lip and, when I touched it, it felt sticky. This is what I swallowed?

"Stop thinking and just feel, Bella."

He had a good point. "Ok."

He pulled me to his arms and threw my on the freak gigantic bed. He ripped my, that's right, brand NEW really cute Capri pants and lacy undies. He didn't hesitate and just rammed his tongue between my lower lips. That felt so good. There is just nothing better than Jasper down there, except Jasper's cock in there.

He licked me up and down like I like it and thrust three fingers into me. I read some trashy romance novel once and I think they started with one finger. Goes to show you how real life is way different than fiction. Do they even do any research before they write?

His other hand, that wasn't thrusting into me, went from gripping my waist hard and going to the place between my lower lips and anus. Does he have some kind of infatuation with my anus? Hate to break it to you buddy, but that's exit only.

"Not when I get done with it," he replied. Had I said that aloud? Shit.

Before I knew what was happening, I came. Hard. That's the best orgasm yet. "Jas, you are amazing. Have I ever told you how lucky I know I am?"

"Not as lucky as I am. Now get over here so I can pound the ever living shit out of you to make sure you won't be able to walk for awhile." Holy shit. He knew his dirty words thrilled me and turned me on even more. Who knew?

He put me on all fours and slowly slid into me after slathering his dick with the wetness from earlier and my orgasm. He slid out, slowly a couple more times and then started pounding me harder than ever before but not enough.

"Fuck Jasper, more! Harder!" I turned to him and he looked dumbfounded, as if he couldn't believe what I just said. "Do it! I need to feel you!"

"Darlin', get ready." He put me onto my shoulders and started fucking me while my ass was in air but careful not to fuck my ass because he knows I would beat him with a stick otherwise. I know this position. Because of my inexperience and the fact he has more, I'd been studying and this is called the pile driver position. Hot.

He started pounding me like it was his last fuck. Ever. I'm glad the both of us can handle his strength. He would surely kill a human in seconds. I love the feel of him being inside me. It makes me feel totally complete. There's no other way to describe it.

All of a sudden I felt him slowing down and then a finger at my exit only entrance. What. The. Fuck? "Jasper, don't you dare!"

"Darlin', just try it. See if you like it before you absolutely say no?"

Ok, he had me there. "Okay."

He kept pressing his finger in and, while it felt like my ass was trying to squeeze the shit out of his finger (pun totally intended), it didn't feel all that bad. Then again, his finger was nowhere near the size of his dick. Fuck he's hung like a horse. I wonder if his dick's size was intentional? Knowing Maria, probably. Bitch just used him and it makes me crazy to think of whatever she's done to him. But I can't think about her. Not when his finger is in my ass and his dick is lodged in me like it's taking a lengthy stay.

Once his finger was totally in, I can't say it hurt but it was somewhat uncomfortable. "Darlin', how do you feel?"

"Well, a little afraid. I realize it's only a finger but Jas, I don't think I could handle your dick in me."

"Darlin', I've got three fingers in your ass. I'm pretty sure my cock will fit in there just fine."

Three? Three fucking fingers? When the fuck did he have time to do that and how did I not notice? Oh that's right – internal dialogue. "Um, ok." I needlessly swallowed whatever secretion they named saliva in me.

"Can I try, hon?"

I swallowed again. I couldn't talk, couldn't breathe – I was as tense as fuck and I really hope I can walk after this.

I felt his dick at my butt's entrance and start slowly sliding in and out, a little bit at a time. Once I felt he was finally in, it felt like I was being completed violated. "Jas, please take it out." I started begging him, saying that almost like a mantra. I felt a tear roll my cheek and my voice was shaky. He slid out right away and just held me. I realize it's illogical of me but, at the same time, I can't help how I feel at the moment.

"I'm sorry darlin', I thought you'd like it." I tried to smile at him but I don't think it worked. He just held me tighter, whispering his apologies and we stayed like that until I finally stopping shaking. I think I gave him quite a scare and he probably feels worse than I do by now over regret. He's not the kind of person to do self-loathing, but I'd bet he's doing exactly that right now.

Eli came to get us for dinner later on. It was very quiet until Eleazar spoke up.

"I was thinking maybe you want to hear some of my background? Bella, did you know you were modeled after someone?"

That perked up my interest. "Really? Who?"

"Well, actually, my sister. She died when she was only 11. She drowned. That's why I don't swim anymore. I know it's illogical but…that's why."

Shit, I'm modeled after a dead relative? "Well, I appreciate being modeled after someone special to you." He smiled at me, saying thank you without ever speaking the words.

"Her name was Isabella, actually. Isabella Maya Goldstein. She and I were born to very poor Jewish parents back in what used to be Russia. I was a couple years older than her. We were hiding in vacant warehouses while our parents were taken away from us into the ghettos during the holocaust. It was such a tragedy, I shudder to think what they experienced there since I had heard about the many rumors about gas chambers and…human experiments. Isa and I sometimes found food in garbage dumpsters and other times the churches secretly donated when they could.

Anyway, Isa never learned how to swim well and could barely do the front stroke. We were going to escape to the "new world" and get away from all the anti-semitism when we heard there were German soldiers on the other side of the canal. It seemed odd to me that German soldiers were attacking Russia, since they were supposed allies but I was more concerned with getting us to safety. I made a make-shift boat which looked no more than a wooden pallet and we used thin wooden boards as oars. Unfortunately, Russian soldiers saw us in while we were in the middle of the lake and started shooting. We both dove into the cold water. I tried to take her hand and guide her to swim in the water. Away from their bullets. But, she was not as good of a swimmer and couldn't hold her breath like I could. I realized this too late. I lost my sister to nonsense and evil, evil people. I was 13 years old and had to grow up, whether I was ready to or not.

After that, I made my way to Italy by hiding on a train behind the cows. I studied as hard as possible while living on the streets or in shelters. I read any books I could get my hands on and started tinkering with inventions. Once I turned 19, the Volturi Brothers gave me a proposition. They offered me a place to stay with food and an income if I created things for them. I was young and it sounded like a very good exchange. So, I moved into their building. Bella, it was a castle! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! They gave me a beautiful room – it was so elegant and very expensive. I was afraid to sleep on the sheets and get them dirty. So, I slept on the floor the first night. The maid came in and saw me there. She started yelling at me to get on the bed immediately! So, I slept nicely after that but I never took advantage of their hospitality.

They gave me a room and told me I could create a lab in it. I gave them a list of what I would need. Everything I asked for, they gave me. In turn, they gave me one request after another of inventions they wanted me to produce. I didn't want to fail. My mama and papa raised me better than to take advantage of people's generosity, so I made them whatever they wanted. They made many replicas and sold them for profit.

They paid me well, too. I was not extremely wealthy but it was more money than I'd ever seen or had in my entire life.

I came up with the humanoid idea on my own. I missed Isa and wanted a companion. I still felt out of place in the castle and was growing tired of my loneliness. So, I asked them if it was ok to put all of my time into that. Imagine my surprise when they agreed to it right away! I was so happy they allowed me the opportunity.

It took me quite a while to design and program, even in the basic stages, the first model – about 6 years. This was my baby, my project and if anyone was going to do it well, it would be me. I did it for me. And, in a strange way, for Isa. It was like I was giving her life back from those that stole it.

On my third model, I was beginning to get very excited. I found a supplier for the skin you have and invented temporary body parts until I could find better replacements. For example, I used plastic eyes until I learned about the retina and was able to create my own that could be linked to your central processor, what Carlisle calls your 'heart.'

Soon they wanted to bring me help. Well, that's what they called it. I was hesitant to share my invention until I was done but as the saying goes, more heads are better than yourself. Or something like that.

Maria was Marcus's sister. She was interested in me romantically but I was so excited every time I made progress on a new and improved Isa that I paid her no romantic attention. Although, I didn't let myself have a luxury of such a relationship anyway.

As you might imagine, Maria didn't take rejection well. She made things very difficult. Carlisle was brought in about 6 months later and she moved on to him, thank goodness. He did not return her affections or advances, either. She turned bitter and started having illegitimate affairs. I worked with her for a year and a half and she'd had 4 abortions during that time. She's what I call a woman of quantity, not quality."

Jas and I snickered. I noticed how Eleazar's Russian accent got stronger as he spoke of his past. Interesting. Eleazar continued.

"We were doing very well. Isa and Jasper had been activated as babies and seemed to be doing fine. We observed them doing normal baby activities, like eating and looking around. You both were, of course, gifted babies and thus your intelligence and progress was faster than "normal" babies, so we had to slow you down a tad. We didn't want you to become news, right? But, it was fun playing with the babies. I'd sing you songs my parents taught me as a small boy and tell you stories, before and after you were activated. I know that seems silly but, to me, you are my legacy…my children. There is no one that could've given me anyone near as special to me as you."

I just wanted to cry at this point but was more enthralled in the story.

"I was on my way to the lab one morning when I heard the Volturi Brothers talking. Normally I do not to eavesdrop but I heard my name and the project and couldn't help myself. Marcus had yelled "NO!" while Aro & Caius were trying to talk him into something. That something was called turned my humanoids into militia for private use. Not for innocent protection but for offensive warfare. As you can imagine, that made me very angry. How could they do that to me!

So, I started making mental plans of how I could leave with Isa and Eli. I packed up my data chips and documentation. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Carlisle started asking questions and I explained what I heard them say. He got very angry too. I didn't realize Maria overheard us. She said there's no way Jasper was being taken away from her. Carlisle started packing right that minute. I had Eli packed up but when I went to get Isa #3, Carlisle had moved her. So, I decided I would find her later on. By the next day, I was gone with just a fraction of the money in my bank account that I was allowed to leave the country with.

I heard very good things about America from the Jewish Federation in Italy. They helped me get to America and I had to pretend Eli was my little brother that was sleeping every time someone looked at him. Remember, I had not activated him yet. I thought for sure someone would find out but people left us alone by pure miracle.

Eli and I arrived in New York and I had nowhere to go. That's when I began to be afraid. I left too quickly but, at the same time, it needed to be done. Luckily, the Jewish Federation provided us a home in the New York Burroughs and I met people from many places. We had people from all over the world on a single block! There was a neighbor I had that used to live in California and had traveled to many places. He told me his favorite place was Phoenix.

I worked hard in a butcher shop by day for a couple years and saved up enough to not only pay the JF back but also to move where no one could find us. I bought a map and a used car with the money I brought from Italy and schlepped Eli with me. I still had not activated him yet and was determined to finish him up.

We finally stopped in Phoenix. The restaurant above us was, of course, not there at the time. I made a shelter and a lab while living in a small apartment. I invented a chair that had a cloth in the back of it to be warm or cold but the cloth was very well hidden. Many of them sold and I was able to make a lot of money to keep building my shelter. After two more years, I was done. Obviously I have made improvements over the years and have never stopped working on the security but I'd say it is finally what I'd always envisioned."

I was totally blown away. This man had endured and living so much within his early years and I was complaining about working as a cashier if the band failed? How can I be so shallow? I am so ashamed of myself.

"Bella, just because I have had a difficult life does not mean it hasn't been fulfilling. Look, I have Eli and you and now Jasper too! I am a very happy man."

Eli piped in. "Yeah, if only he could get the courage to ask the hostess out, he'd be all set."

Hostess?

"Eh….she's actually the owner but she pretends to be the hostess. I have seen her on occasion and she's the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Carmen is everything and yet I cannot have her. Who'd want to live down here permanently? Maybe she has a family and children? I don't know that much about her but, in my dreams, she is very real and very much my desire."

T.M.I. Who wants to hear their dad talk about someone he'd like to bone? Nope, not me.

"So, you've never asked her out? Not even just once?"

"No, I'd rather not start something that cannot become more."

Eli couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing. "Nope, he's afraid of rejection, is all." Eleazar shot him a look but I knew he wasn't mad, just acknowledging the truth.

Ugh, men.

* * *

**And they say women can be difficult!**


	18. Chapter 16: Matchmaker, Matchmaker

**Chapter 16: Matchmaker, Matchmaker**

We had retired to bed after dinner so everyone got some sanity space. I started working on my shield last night to see how I can raise or lower it. Surprisingly, all I had to do is concentrate the same way as the telepathy. I laid down on the bed next to Jasper, who was already asleep. We've been here a month now and I am so happy, more than I have been in my entire life.

The next day, Eli woke us up to explain the closet. I shit you not. How hard is it to open a door and grab clothes out of it? Apparently too difficult for us. Jasper turned over and didn't even bother to open his eyes. Lucky me.

"Bella, when you open this door, there will be a display that comes up on the inside of it. You will step in and close the door. It will ask you what you want to wear and let you choose based on style, color, genre and textile. You have choices of dresses, shirts, skirts, pants, jeans, or clown outfits if you want. Enter your birthday as your password."

"Eli, the password doesn't work," I called out.

"Oh sorry, I mean Isa's birthday. May 31." Would they see me as me or me as a replacement for Isa?

After finally finishing getting showered and dressed, the four of us met up at the lab. Eleazar turned around and gave us a welcoming smile. I could tell this is going to be another long day of explanations and discussion of what needs to happen moving forward.

"Bella, I'm sure you have more questions for me. First, I want to say I looked at your profile and it's so interesting what you've already seen in your life as well as your outlook on it. Your reactions aren't as typical as most humans but I don't think that's because you're a humanoid on a certain level. I think it's just your own uniqueness."

Is this the part where I look into a mirror and say something like 'I'm good enough, smart enough and dog gone it, people like me.'?

Eleazar didn't seem to notice what was probably a completely stupid look on my face. He actually looked conflicted. "Bella, I don't want you to take this the wrong way but we've already had some of your data."

"What do you mean? How's that possible?"

"Erm, well, you know that bond you and Eli have? He's been able to see you in flashes once we realized the possibility. I didn't intentionally program it to work that way but imagine my delight when I found out about it! That, by the way, is how Eli knew you were at the restaurant that day."

"So, you were spying on me?"

"Well, yes and no. We couldn't always 'see' you. I think it had to do with your shield. Even though you have a strong link with Eli, you still possess the ability to allow or ban someone from your mind. My theory is you let your guard down during those flashes. Perhaps it was during the times you've been inebriated?"

Well, that would make sense. I nodded for him to continue.

"Are you okay with this? You seem to be taking it well."

"Well, there's not anything I can do about it. Obviously it hurts you didn't tell me right away but I understand your logic. If I had a way to find my child's location or see their life somehow, I'd probably grab onto it and never let go."

He smiled brightly at me and seemed grateful I was so understanding without becoming defensive. I have to admit; it wouldn't have done any good to get mad about it. Kinda one of those situations where you just deal with it and move on.

"I want us to get to know each other better without long, drawn out stories. No offense, Eleazar." I haven't quite made the decision of whether to start calling him dad or not, so we're on a first name basis still. Eli seemed very excited and Jas was rolling his eyes because he knows how I get at games. "How about truth or dare?"

"Um, Eleazar is kind of limited on the whole dare possibility, so how about 20 questions instead?"

"Ok, fair enough. Sorry Eleazar." He nodded to let me know he didn't take any offense. Good to not piss off my dad just days into meeting him. "Ok, let's do favorites for the first 10 questions and then move on to the juicer, er, more private, questions for the other 10. Agreed?" I got all thumbs up.

"Ok – favorites. Everyone list their favorite color, book, movie, food, dessert, or whatever else you have of a favorite. If you don't offer 10 favorites, you hand over the rest of the questions to your juicy pile." I was incredibly interested in Eli's favorite dessert. I just had to know.

Eleazar went first. "Ok, brown, Shel Silverstein's poems, I don't really watch movies, pizza and strawberry ice cream."

Eli went next. "Any Hazel combination, anything John Grisham, Alien, any Italian dish, and tiramisu."

I went next. The first color was easy. Blue is Jasper's eye color. "Blue, Twilight, The Color Purple, Colombian Lengua with fresh salsa and pistachio ice cream."

Before Jasper got a turn, Eleazar choked out, "_What did you say?_" Eleazar had a strange look on his face.

"Which part?"

"The ice cream. Your favorite dessert is pistachio ice cream?"

"Yes. Ever since I had a strange dream that I was tugging on a boy's pants and asking for some pistachio ice cream, I decided to try it and found I liked it a lot. So, it's been my favorite ever since. Does that have any significance or meaning to you?"

Eleazar started rubbing his temples and then his eyes. Is he crying? "My Isa, my Isa." He just kept repeating it while rocking back and forth and we were dumbfounded as to what to do. We all silently got up and started to leave. "Bella, stay with me. Please."

How can I say no? "Of course, papa." I'd read that Russian children called their parents mama and papa. I figured he'd appreciate me saying that. It turns out I figured right, kind of. He smiled at me and held my hand tightly. I think he wanted me to call him my brother but I really need to make sure he makes the distinction between me and his departed sister.

"My Isa. She always begged me for pistachio ice cream, especially in the hot summer days during vacation. It was her favorite. Our parents took us vacationing to the Black Sea for a month. A month! I couldn't get Isa in the water all month until I finally bought her swimming goggles and she had 3 days left until the end of the vacation. She and I loved the beach and swimming in the shallow water. The ice cream man would come and sell us cones. That was the first I'd ever heard of pistachio ice cream but my Isa loved to try new things and that was the only flavor she hadn't ever tried. She always ordered it after that first time. I couldn't get her to try anything else, especially during our vacation.

I wish I still had our family photos. She and I played in this little boat our neighbor owned. There's a picture of both of us, posing on it. I have never seen a more beautiful smile on anyone. Bella, it was such a happy time of my life.

When we were in the ghetto in Borisov, there were no more luxuries. We both had to grow up so fast when in there. Subconsciously we knew it would be a miracle if we lived through it but because we had each other, we tried our hardest to make it through the days with only a small breadstick and some water for our daily meal. What I wouldn't give just to go back in time and give her one last ice cream cone." His tears were really coming down now. I didn't know what to do but sit there and hold his hand.

"I miss my parents, very much so, but Isa and I had a very strong bond and I lost a big piece of myself when she died."

He calmed down a little after a few more tears fell. "I guess the programming I set up really put her personality into you. It just goes to show you how much of me and Isa there is in you two. I'm not sure how those memories came to you in your dreams, though. I never put anything like that into your programming." Oooh, weird. And creepy. Is Isa haunting me or reaching out? Since when does Eleazar not have an explanation? Weird.

"Eleazar, I had a strange dream a while ago about dancing clothes. Does that bring back any memories?" With that, he cried even harder. I feel like such a fool bringing that up. Why did my own curiosity trump his feelings? Hasn't he had enough difficulty remembering Isa's ice cream?

"When mama used to hang the laundry outside, Isa and I played with the clothes. We'd tug on them while they were attached to the clothesline and pretend they danced with each other or us. It is such a nice memory to remember, though. Thank you, Bella. You have no idea how good it is to remember things about her and talk about it. I don't want to forget my Isa."

"Anytime, papa." I want to know more about his parents and what happened to them, but it's Isa's turn today.

If there's anything I can do for my father, it's to play matchmaker. I can become…what's that word the Jews use? Oh yes, a yenta. I know it would mean a lot. So, it's on the top of my to-do list. I enlisted Eli's help so that nothing can go wrong.

Nothing would go wrong. It couldn't. It wouldn't. Right?

After planning the best first date ever for the next two days, Eli and I decided we were ready. Jas initially didn't want anything to do with it but I had to pull out the stops and give him my biggest puppy eyes ever. Yep, he's a sucker for that. I normally save it for special occasions only but this warranted it.

Operation First Date: Commenced.

Eleazar's POV

There's something going on. I can feel it. And I don't necessarily think I'm being paranoid anymore. For instance, Eli and Bella didn't have _time_ to sit with me at breakfast or lunch today. Or for the past two days. I'd been looking forward to spending more time with her and getting to know her personality more but I never would have dreamed she'd be so taken with spending time with Eli first. I suppose I should've seen it coming.

But then there's Jasper. It's almost like he's babysitting me. Anywhere I go, he follows or somehow is already there when I arrive. He and I hadn't had the best start so perhaps this is his way of trying to get to know me better? But if that's the case, then why doesn't he talk? He just sits there, as if expecting me to hold the conversation. That can't be normal.

Today has been especially lonely. Jasper hasn't hovered all the time but has been checking on me, in case I wanted some company. I've noticed though, he is a man of few words. He asks questions with his eyes a lot. His and Bella's dynamic are so very interesting to watch. They are quite a pair. She is so much like Isa and yet very much her own woman. I know she wants to make sure I don't confuse her with my memory of Isa. It's hard sometimes but I try.

"Papa?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. "Yes, Bella?"

"I have a special surprise for you. Will you come to dinner?"

I gave her a big smile. Finally, maybe we can have a meal, just the two of us. "Of course. I'd love to." Why is she wearing a server's uniform?

She led the way to the dining room and, before the door opened, she blindfolded me. "Please trust me." I nodded.

She wheeled me in and I heard some shuffling and then some muffled sounds. What is going on?

"Papa, are you ready for your big surprise?"

I nodded. I can't wait to see! She removed my blindfold. The table was set beautifully and to my horror, there sat Carmen on the other side of the table, blindfolded and tied to a chair.

Bella's POV

His reaction was not quite what I was hoping for. He paled when he saw her and turned a weird shade of green. This was definitely not good.

"What the hell is this? You kidnapped the woman of my dreams for a _date_?"

Carmen stopped fussing _finally_ and sat still. Geez, even I wasn't this bad when I was kidnapped. Both times!

I shifted a couple times and looked to Eli and Jasper for help. Somehow they both ditched me. Oh they are going to pay!

"Bella! What is going on!"

"Um well I thought you'd like to get to know her better and it seemed like a logical plan for her to come to you since we wouldn't have been able to talk you to coming to see her so…yeah."

"So you kidnapped her? Oh my goodness, Carmen I am so sorry. I don't know what got into my children for them to do this to you. I'll have them untie you at once and you may go home and then I'll deal with them later."

She relaxed and motioned to her gag. What? I couldn't have her shouting at me and ruin the surprise! I went over and removed it. Here it comes. The part where I get super-bitched out.

"Sir, what is your name? And how do you know mine?"

"Eleazar. I, uh, saw you at your restaurant once and heard one of your employees say it."

"And I am the woman of your dreams?"

If I didn't think he could turn other colors, I was sadly mistaken. He turned a ripe cherry red and then did the unthinkable. He started stuttering.

"Uh, uh, ye-es, yes, well, I um. Damnit. Oh I'm so sorry for cursing. I um, well I. Argh! Bella! Yes, Carmen you are. I've known as soon as I saw you." I can only imagine how much he was cursing me in his head.

"Well, Eleazar, since your children took the time to bring me here, the least you could do is feed me before I am released seeing as how I fed you, albeit unknowingly."

Both our mouths dropped to the floor. He looked at me as if saying "screw this up and you're dead" and I hurried to the kitchen/microwave box. She watched me carefully. I could tell she didn't know if I was going to poison her or if she was trying to figure out what the hell I was doing at the microwave. If it wasn't for the severity of the situation, this would've been very comical to watch. I'm almost positive my two partners in crime are watching every bit of this and laughing their asses off. Just wait until I get out of this room. Surely they'll want some privacy. I mean, who'd want to be chaperoned on their first date?

I served them soup and salad for starters. Just as I was about to leave, Eleazar looked at me. "Do not leave. Why don't you do what you planned, at least, for the rest of the dinner?" Oh I am in such deep shit. Or, maybe this is a good sign. Well, it's make it or break it time. I stood to the side, my face to the floor and awaited further instructions or for them to be ready for the main meal.

"So, Eleazar, tell me more about yourself."

He squirmed. Of course he couldn't very well tell her why he lived underground! Shit! What was I thinking? Apparently I didn't plan this out well enough. I guess my days as a kidnapper are over.

"Well, I am a scientist and you have met my two children, Eli and Bella. The other man is Jasper. He is Bella's husband."

"Wow, she seems young to be married. You are not married?"

"Uh, no. I have never been married. You?"

"I am a widow. My husband died about 10 years ago. I opened the restaurant with the life insurance money they paid me."

"Oh."

This continued on and they learned quite a bit about each other. Finally I was done serving them and Eleazar asked me to leave them be for a little while. I stayed close, since we technically did have to let her go soon.

I went back to my room and found them snickering. "Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh. But my bet is that, even though it started terribly, they will get together. So…ha!"

"Darlin' we want nothin' more but ya have to know your first date plan was quite unconventional."

"Yeah I know. You can't blame me for wanting him to be happy."

"And that's why I agreed to help you." Eli nodded in agreement as well. Should I set him up? As if he understood my look, he glared and shook his head at me. Oh, no more yenta-ing for me. Clearly I suck at it. Obviously the world isn't ready for me yet.

"Bella? Carmen is ready to go home now." I heard Eleazar call out from the intercom. I ran to the library, where they went after dinner.

"Eleazar, I am not mad. Please don't take that the wrong way."

"It's ok. I understand. Bella will show you out. Thank you for joining me tonight." She nodded and then stood up to join me. I motioned for her to follow me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eleazar look down at the floor. He seemed very sad. What the hell went wrong?

I went to blindfold her but she stopped me. "Bella? What is this place?"

"Um, I cannot tell you that. We also can't have you know how to get back. I know it seems silly but this is a hidden area, not known to the rest of the world. It's better you don't get lost if you ever want to find it again."

"But if I wanted to see Eleazar again? How would I reach him?" My heart soared and I knew I made the right decision to bring her here.

"Well, how about I call you in a week and we can talk then?"

She smiled. "That sounds great. You obviously know where I work and live, so I'll wait for your call. Please…call." She almost looked like she didn't believe I would. I said I would, didn't I? Unless…

"Ok Bella, I'm ready."

I blindfolded her again and brought her back to her world. I kept my homing device off, just in case. I dropped her off at her home and then sped away when I saw her open the door and go in, after giving me a sad smile.

I raced back to Eleazar's…no, our home and decided to give him a full out inquisition.

I stormed into the library, grateful he hadn't left. "What the hell, papa? What happened?"

"Is she home, safe?"

"Of course!"

"Did you watch her go in?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm going to bed."

I don't think so. "No. Tell me what happened."

"Bella, I think you've done enough damage. Please, leave it alone. Don't contact her or bother her ever again."

"But I…" I promised her to call. Surely he'll let me do that?

"No! That is final."

Shit. I nodded and he left to go to his room for the night. Well, on to Plan B.

The three of us went to the "security room." Apparently all of the security in this place wasn't enough. There's a panic room with TVs and it recorded all movement and audio in every room. Somehow Eli & Eleazar developed a way to keep the recording high in quality but low in file size, so it was easy to keep the recordings going. But, it would only record when movement and/or audio was detected. Luckily all of the rooms had hidden cameras, so unless you knew they were there, you wouldn't necessarily be aware of it.

Of course, he's one step ahead of us. Apparently he removed the file of his "date."

I became frustrated. What the hell happened? Eli saw the predicament. He sighed. "He's going to kill me for this." I looked over at him and raised one eyebrow.

He pulled out a memory stick. "I knew he'd probably remove the file, so I made a copy while you and he was asking you to take her home." Did I mention my brother is a genius?

"Eli, that's fantastic! Thank you thank you thank you!" I started giving him little kisses on his cheeks and he turned a bright red. He pushed me away, clearly embarrassed by his big sister giving him kisses in front of her snickering husband. We loaded up the file and watched.

Now I understand. Shit.

In the morning, I corned Eleazar. "What is going on? I saw the tape. Don't think you're going to fool me! Why did you get sad at the end? It looked like everything was going great!"

"Bella, this doesn't concern you and it's a closed matter. Drop it."

Hell no. "No."

He rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Fine. You really want to know? I'll give to you. What kind of life would we have? She has a life out there, with family, a house and a restaurant. What makes you think she'd want to be with me, an old cripple who hides in this place?"

Well, I wasn't exactly expecting that. "Is that what you really think of yourself?"

"Of course. It's the truth."

And I thought I had issues. "You have got to be kidding. She was totally into you. Are you seriously going to blow it because of your own insecurities? Have you lost your mind?"

"First, do not dare talk to me like that! Second, it's not your place to tell me how to go about this whole dating thing. We're not meant to be. End of story. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to work on your programming. Why don't you find something useful to do while I work on this? I should be done by 2pm. Come to the lab then."

He turned and rolled into the lab, closing the door behind him. Fuck. I really made a mess of things. I went to Eli's room.

"Well, I'm sure you heard it. What now?"

"Well, you leave it alone."

"What? How can I do that? She's interested, he's interested and he's being a fool! We have to make this right!"

"_We_ aren't going to do anything. Got it? He's made himself pretty clear on this. Please respect his wishes."

Damnit. "Ok. What do you want to do?"

Eli and I spent a few hours going over how his powers work and we worked on strengthening mine. We also worked on our bond and talking to each other mentally. I'd say it was pretty successful.

2pm came. I was excited and yet dreaded seeing him again. Would he look at me with disgust and disappointment from now on? Apparently not, because when I walked in he was excited as all hell.

"Bella! I'm so glad you're here! I've been able to really focus on your programming and I think I've updated it to really bring your potential to its fullest. Would you like to see it or do you want to just "do it," as they say?

Eh, why not? I trust him. "Let's do it."

I laid down on the table, face down. He removed my chip and I fell into darkness again.

Jasper's POV

I walked into the lab and saw her on the table, dead as a doorknob. "Again? Now what?"

Eleazar looked up and turned to me. "I'm making modifications to her programming. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I found a couple glitches, mainly her focus proving interference to maximize her mental potential. I fixed it and she should be better than ever."

"You're saying she'll be more focused?" My face fell. Shit, I've always found that somewhat endearing. Yes she struggles with it but will she want it to be corrected? I'm not so sure. It's just a part of her.

"Just you wait and see."

Ok, whatever. He uploaded the crazy language onto her chip and then put it in her. Her eyes opened and I was so relieved. He didn't fuck her up. I walked over to take her into my arms.

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Eleazar said.

Now what! I can't touch my own wife? I glared at him and started moving toward her. She saw me and before I knew what was happening, I was pinned to the other side of the wall.

"Told you."

Asshole. What the fuck is going on?

"She doesn't completely remember you but she is also not used to her boost in power. She needs to learn how to control it, as well as her other new ones."

"New ones? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Do not speak to my brother that way!"

Oh, fuck. He didn't. "You think he's your brother?" Shit, she has a strong hold. At least I can still talk. "He's your creator. Your father, that's what you called him before he fucked with your programming. Undo whatever the fuck you did to her!"

"No. She is what she has always meant to be. She is the greatest humanoid yet. She and Eli are unstoppable. Although he's strong, she is stronger in build, speed and power. She is the ultimate weapon."

"You fucking turned her into the one thing Carlisle tried to prevent? Are you fucking out of your mind?"

"She has to know her place. I can't let her try to make her own decisions anymore. Clearly she doesn't make the right ones. Now I have to figure out how to remove Carmen's memories of me and I need Bella to bring her back down here gently."

"You have got to be kidding. Do you really think Bella wants to be your Isa? Let her be her own person! Stop trying to make her into a ghost!"

"Shut your mouth! This is for her own good."

"No." We looked over at Eli, who I didn't even hear enter the room. "No, she would want to be herself, not your late sister's image. Please, change her personality at least back to that. Leave the focus and strength but let her be of her own mind."

Eleazar looked down. "I just wanted her strong, like my Isa." He started crying and Bella's hold on me broke. She went over to him and held him.

"Brother, don't cry. I'm here now." He looked at her and knew we were right. She needs to be Bella, not Isa. He looked back at me and nodded.

"Isa, lay back on the table. I need to make another modification and let you be back to who you really are. Bella."

"Brother, are you sure? You don't have to, just because they say it so." It's weird how she even has a Russian accent now.

"Yes, I do."

She went back to the table and he looked at us as he removed her chip. "I need some time to make the program modifications. I promise it'll be fine and she'll be back to normal. I'll still keep her focused but she'll be Bella, not Isa."

I nodded. "I want Eli to stay in the room to ensure it. I may not understand your scientific babble but he does." Eleazar and Eli nodded at me and I left. I hope I can trust them to fix it.

I went back to our room to think. Life has thrown one clusterfuck at me after another. Why Bella wants to be with me is a mystery to me to this day. She could've chosen someone more normal. Hell, even Edward would've been a more sane choice because he's at least less fucked up in the head than me. Although I still can't believe he made a move on her. He knows we're fucking married! He is one big idiot.

What if he can't make her be Bella again? What if she doesn't remember everything? Will she fall back in love with me? I'm not sure I could handle life without Bella. No one compares to her. No one I've ever met has been more loving, compassionate and just…good. She has looked past all my faults and accepted me for what I am. How could I ever let that go? It just isn't possible for me to live without her.

Eli's POV

"Papa, I do not want to speak out of place but that was wrong and you know it. Jasper will have a very hard time trusting you again. You essentially took his wife away. How could you?"

"Eli, if you understood just how much I miss my sister, you'd understand. Once you create a stronger bond with Bella, you will completely understand. It is hard to explain otherwise."

"Perhaps. But, please don't do this again. Bella and I may be powerful, but we should not be created to be weapons and being used. Let us make our own decisions. If you have done your job well as a parent and role model, then you need to give us the opportunity to succeed or fail in life experience."

"Son, you are right. Thank you for showing me my mistake. I will delete Isa's profile from Bella's programming and make it right. You have my word."

"Thank you but I won't need your word. I will do as Jasper requested and stay to watch."

"Very well." He turned around and got to work. I felt bad for having to watch my father like this but he really had a bad lapse in judgment today.

Bella's POV

I woke up. For some reason, I felt strange. Am I me? Who am I, anyways? I remember waking up earlier and attacking Jasper but it's like I wasn't in control anymore. I tried my hardest to stop forcing him against the wall but it was no use. It's like my body was not my own anymore.

"Bella?"

I turned to Eli. Why was he looking at me funny? Is he expecting someone else? "Yes, Eli?"

"Do you know who this is?" He was pointed to Eleazar. Is he out of his mind?

"Of course. That's papa." They both breathed a sigh of relief. Am I missing something? "What's going on?"

"I think we better take you to Jasper and he'll explain. It's for the best."

This is getting ridiculous but I want to see him anyways. "Ok." Before Eli and I left the lab, Eleazar grabbed my arm.

"Bella. I want you to know that I love you, no matter what you think of me once you've had that talk with Jasper. Please know that you are my daughter in every way and I know you are not my sister. Do you understand?"

Everyone is getting weirder and weirder. I nodded and left the lab.

I walked into our room, where I found Jasper sleeping. I crawled onto the bed and laid facing him. I pulled him close to me and started kissing his face all over, finally stopping at his mouth. He grinned, although his eyes were still closed, and started responding back.

After a few minutes of intense kissing and heavy petting, we both opened our eyes and just concentrated on memorizing each other's faces. I don't know why, I've stared at him so many times and we've barely been apart. But, something keeps nagging at me that I've lost time with him recently.

"Bella? Is that really you?"

Well, now I am extremely confused. "What's going on? Why does everyone think I am someone else?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" And then he proceeded to tell me. I was turned into Isa. I was not Bella anymore. If Eli hadn't stepped in, Bella would no longer exist. I was absolutely fuming. How could Eleazar do this to me? After everything!

"Bella. I know you're upset but, though twisted, he had good intentions."

"How so? He took me away from you and vice versa. I know how you must've felt because I felt that way when Maria reprogrammed you and I almost lost you then. What if you hadn't remembered?"

"Darlin', I did and that's what matters. Please. Give him another chance. He wants to make this right."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Jasper was sticking up for him? At least now I understand why Eleazar said what he said before I left the lab. I feel so…conflicted. On one hand, he is my father and people make mistakes. I get that. On the other, he tried to make me into someone else! A ghost, no less! _How is he ever going to see me as Bella? Will he ever try this again?_

"No." I looked at the doorway and saw Eli.

"What?"

"I said no. He will not try this again. I had his word on it."

"And how do you know you can believe and trust him?"

"I just do. I know you can feel it too."

I thought about it. Could he be right? I thought maybe what I was feeling was a determination to see the best in my father. Is Eli's trust well placed? "Ok, Eli. Ok, Jasper. I'll give him another chance but it'll be awhile before I'll be in the same room without one of you present. Deal?"

"Deal." They both smiled. Eleazar must've really apologized big time if they were willing to stick up for him. They both looked relieved that I wasn't making this any harder. Why would I do that? Why would I even want to? Men are so strange sometimes. And they say women are hard to understand!

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**I should have the next update by Friday morning. Thanks for reading!**


	19. Chapter 17: Carmen

**Chapter 17: Carmen**

"Hello?"

"Is this Carmen?"

"Yes, who is speaking?"

Pause.

"Is this Bella?"

"Yes, Carmen. I did promise to call, after all." I could hear a sigh of relief. "I'd like to invite you back, if you'd like to come back, that is. I understand if you might n…"

"Stop. I'd love to."

After becoming Bella again, which seems weird to think even now, Eleazar and I came to the solid understanding that he will never try to change me unless I request it and that Carmen can come back if she wants. She, however, will have a choice to make. Either she can date Eleazar or we'll need to erase her memory of us. While it sounds paranoid, I do understand the need to keep this place secret. Who am I to broadcast our location if Eleazar wants to stay out of public eye?

_Knock Knock_

"Hello Bella."

I smiled at her. She was dressed casually with a short sleeve shirt and a nice pair of jeans. I never noticed it before but she has a gold necklace on with a strange charm on it. I'll have to look into its meaning. "Ready?" She walked out and closed the door behind her after nodding.

"Lead the way!" she said and we laughed together.

We went through the mess of security and stuff. I didn't blindfold her this time and watched her expressions change. It was like watching me and my own curiosity when I first came here. It is pretty overwhelming. Her eyes were detailing everything they could. For a human, she was sure taking this all in well. Most probably would've run in the other direction and posted a conspiracy theory on the internet about the place. But, as they say, fact is stranger than fiction.

I brought her to Eleazar's study, since we didn't need her freaking out while in the lab or anything. Who knows what she'll think once she finds everything out?

Carmen's POV

I feel like I'm in a sci-fi drama. There's secrecy and possibly danger around the corner. At first, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. First they kidnap me, feed me and then bring me back to my house and the next thing I know, I want to come back as soon as they'd ask. There's just something about Eleazar that clicked with us. I've never been one to believe in love at first sight although I feel a strange, strong bond with him. He was a true gentleman after apologizing profusely on behalf of his daughter. I understood her intentions, strange as it is. That doesn't mean I'm ok with being kidnapped but I suppose it could've been a lot worse.

Bella brought me to his library. Honestly, I don't know what to make of her. Beautiful, strong willed and just a decent human being. Although, I won't deny that she's a little scary. She's approachable but still a tad distant. Her walls are high but maybe once we get to know each other, she'll trust me to…

Wait, get to know each other? Stop getting ahead of yourself, Carmen. This is your second time here and already making yourself comfortable. What would Nahuel have said? I think I heard the first sign of insanity as being something along the lines of when you find yourself asking advice from your late husband.

Perhaps this is all a delusion and I am, in fact, crazy?

No way. I could never be _this_ creative.

Eleazar looked as handsome as last time. He has this kind of timeless beauty and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know it.

"Hello, Carmen." He gave me a small smile. "Bella, you can go."

She made no move to leave and glared at Eleazar, as if to tell him something.

"Fine." And then she left in a huff. I wonder how old she is, because that's like something my daughter would've done. When she was 7. This girl needs some kind of guidance. Eleazar seems like he would've set a good example. Did he not teach her _anything_?

He looked back at me. "Please, have a seat. Has Bella explained anything to you?"

I sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "No, she's been very quiet." I thought I heard him mumble something like _well, that's a first_ but I could be wrong.

"Carmen, I feel you deserve some explanations. Before we begin, I need to say this. What you hear today cannot be able to be repeated. I would very much like to get to know you and date you properly, but my situation is not that easy. If you do not accept me, your memory of me and this place will be removed."

He is not making any sense. "Eleazar, what are you talking about?"

"You need to move in with me."

Say _what_? "I think I need something to drink."

After a lengthy explanation with some very good wine, apparently he has my future all planned out. I am to either move in and _then_ date him or forget him entirely and live my life as I've known it.

Simple, right?

I have a family. My daughter is in college and engaged to a wonderful man. My late husband would have had a heart attack all over again if he heard all of this and yet, as crazy as it sounds, I can't believe I'm even contemplating it. Perhaps it's shock or just a desire for something exciting. Or, maybe I have finally found someone and just don't want to be alone anymore. Though, Eleazar seems like so much more than just an ordinary companion.

So here I sit, in the bathroom, while deciding and weighing my options. Because all great decisions have been made on the pot.

Bella's POV

"What is taking her so long? Why does a woman spend so long in the bathroom?" Papa asked.

"Because she's thinking."

"She's thinking about all of this in the bathroom?"

"Of course, papa. Don't you know _anything_ about women?"

"No."

Oh. Shit. "Sorry. Anyway, it's totally normal. You want me to check on her?"

"That will not be necessary." We turned our heads to the voice at the door. Carmen looked completely refreshed. She seems…at peace. Well, I guess her decision has been made. I don't even need to read her mind.

"Carmen, would you like me to leave?"

"No Bella, you can stay. You live here too, yes? It's not like I'll tell you where to go in your own home."

I think I like her even more. At least _she_ doesn't kick me out of rooms! Maybe she'll be a good influence on Eleazar.

All it took was one teensy weensy little comment about how he needs to get some booty action and he didn't really appreciate my enthusiasm. Apparently he thought I'd repeat it in front of her. As if. That's something you'd take a person to the side to say.

But, I digress. He really does need to get laid. The man hasn't had sex in well, oh my lord. Has he ever had sex? I can't believe I'm thinking about my dad's sexual history/life. That is disgusting and yet I really just want to help him.

While he was talking to her about her _options_, I did a little research on her. What? I need to make sure she's good for him. Don't all kids do criminal checks on potential partners/spouses? No? Well, whatever. Maybe I just act on how much I care a little more than normal, but since when have I ever been normal?

She's clean as a whistle. Not even a speeding ticket. She was a homemaker for a long time, caring for her daughter. After her husband passed away, she took the insurance money and started the restaurant. Apparently she's a very good cook.

On top of it all, she's Jewish. I don't know if he was specifically looking for someone Jewish, but that's got to be a plus, right? I looked up that charm on her necklace and apparently it's a Hebrew letter, called Chai, pronounced "Hi." It means 'life.' Seems like a nice enough charm. I suppose if I wore a necklace, it should have some kind of symbolic meaning to it. I wonder how she came to have it. Did she buy it or was it a gift from someone special?

I looked back to my father. He's twiddling his thumbs and is constantly shifting, looking toward the door. Is he that nervous? She is so into him. Can he not see that?

Ah, here she is. Decision time.

Eleazar's POV

"Alright Eleazar, I've made my decision. I'll stay but under one condition."

I tried not to look like a kid who inherited a candy store. "Yes?"

"I don't mind moving here or even giving up my restaurant but I want to be able to visit my daughter."

"I have thought about this and I think we can come to a compromise." She raised her eyebrow at me. How is everyone able to _do_ that! "Well, we do have a teleconference room and you can talk over video."

"You want me to never see my daughter again in the flesh? Are you mad?" I don't really see the problem here. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know you well enough to give up absolutely everything! I can't even believe I'm doing this much! But I am talking about my daughter. I can't give her up, no way."

Oh no. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella opening her mouth. I think she's going to talk.

_Dear Lord, _

_help me help me help me._

"I think I know of a way we can work this out…" she said. We both turned to her in question. "Well, Eli has been working on a new invention with actually, Carmen, in mind.

Really.

"Yeah, um, I'll let him explain it. Follow me." She left the room and we started out the door to catch up with her.

Oh no. No no no no no no no. Not the lab. She is NOT taking her to the lab.

Yep, she's going to the lab. Oh yes, I just _had_ to promise not to change her programming without request. Children are born with a gift to make parents do things against their will. It would've been nice to have given her something like the gift to hear me say a big fat NO to going to the lab.

And, as if she heard me, she looked at me and winked. She couldn't really hear me, could she?

Could she? She looked back at me again and smirked. Well I'll be damned. My child is stronger than I thought. I know she can push thoughts out but not read them. _Bella, do not go to the lab. She's going to be freaked out._

_Papa, it'll be ok. Trust me._ She wants me to trust her? I suppose this is a part of growing up. Damnit. _Okay Bella, I just hope you know what you're doing._

Carmen's POV

And if this place wasn't weird enough, this room plenty tops them all.

We walked into this room through some double doors. Bella called it the lab on the way over and I expected a science classroom with tables and beakers. Boy, I wasn't even close!

We walked through double doors. On the left, there is some strange equipment in various shapes and sizes. I'm no medical expert, but I saw a tube that looked like it was made for an MRI scanner. There were TV screens; some with images and others of crazy language. Are those hieroglyphics?

On the right, there are a couple desks with fancy computers on them. They look very advanced, nothing like the little laptop I have at home. The computers have attachments and I'm not sure I even want to know why.

This room has clearly been designed and not decorated by men. At least there's no gaudy wallpaper. Does Bella not decorate at all? I am starting to think she hasn't always been here, like Jasper. He seems 'on the outside' to me, as if he's only here because Bella is here. I wonder how they met?

"What is it that you do here, Eleazar?" He gave me a hesitant look like he thinks I'm going to run away and tried to plead with me not to ask too many questions. I don't know what to make of this. When we were getting to know each other, he seemed normal enough. But how do I make sense of this?

Bella spoke up. "There are experiments and inventions created here. We could get into the nitty gritty, but basically that's what usually people use labs for." I doubt she meant to sound condescending but it felt like it. I must've given her some kind of look because she said, "that's just a broad way to look at it. No offense or anything." Eleazar breathed a sigh of relief. Are they hiding something from me?

"No, we're not hiding…much. We just can't tell you everything right now." How did she know what I was thinking? Her eyes bulged out and she put a hand over her mouth. Eleazar glared at her. It's almost comical to watch them interact.

"So, would you like to hear what I've been working on?" Apparently Eli has come in to save the day.

"Sure, Eli. Go for it." I can see Eleazar was pleased there was a possible resolution but I can also see he's not used to being out of the loop. Interesting. I hope he's not a control freak.

Eli took us to a side room I hadn't noticed up until now and started writing on the wall. "Oh don't worry – this is a special wall fabric and it's not ink being used, though it'll look like it." Can they really hear my thoughts or something?

He looked away and started drawing an elongated window or door. Maybe he can't read my mind but Bella really freaked me out earlier. I looked at her and she looked away from me when we caught each other's eyes.

I turned my attention back to Eli. "Anyways, I have developed a way to create a portal direct to your home, provided we put in place specific equipment. That's how you'll be able to go in and out. I call it the EliPort. Get it?"

I can't even hear crickets.

"Erm, ok then. Moving on. There are restrictions. You'd only be able to stay within the house and no one would be able to go back with you here, though we can work on that. No one will be able to touch you and vice versa because right now we'd only be sending your image over there but eventually you'll be there in the flash. We're setting it up so that it'll be connected to your DNA for that since we technically can't use our own, haha."

They can't use their DNA to test? Why not?

"Erm, oh right. Currently we haven't tested it yet, so you'll have to wait at least a couple weeks for that to finish. What do you think?"

What do I think? I think I've entered the Twilight Zone. Is he for real? "Eleazar, I demand to know what the hell is going on here!"

Eleazar's POV

I have raised a bull-shitter. But he's good, I'll give him that. Perhaps he's willing to dig a tunnel to China, too? When did he even learn this?

Bella winked at me. Of course she'd influence him! Damnit. That's the bad part of having her grow up on the outside but at least it gave her some different experiences, although they're clearly not all good.

Carmen has finally realized we're hiding a huge part of ourselves from her. I took a deep breath and said, "Carmen, please calm down. I'll explain." She looked at me with skepticism. "I need you to trust what I say and not interrupt, ok?" She nodded. I really, really hope I don't send her off screaming.

Bella interjected, of course. "Would you like me to show her, instead?" Oh lord. Is that a better idea? Well, nothing like just getting it over with and ripping off the band-aid quickly. I nodded to her.

Bella started running to every corner, stopping only for a few seconds for Carmen to understand where she went. She then told Carmen what she was thinking and pushed some thoughts into her. I hope she doesn't mention anything about intercourse. In my day, people didn't talk about such things, especially with their children! Oh my, Carmen is in the air.

"Bella, get her down. NOW!"

Carmen looked at her with awe. "_What_ are you?"

It's now or never. "They're my inventions."

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**Thanks for reading!**


	20. Chapter 18: New Developments

**Chapter 18: New Developments**

**Eleazar's POV**

"They're my own inventions. They aren't completely human, obviously, but I do consider them my children. They have special gifts, as you've seen and I'm very proud of them." She looks so lost and so confused. I don't know how to make this easier to understand.

"But…they walk…and they talk…and they're not human…and…but, how?"

"Yes, they are quite wonderful, too. There was a lot of science and experimentation involved, but here they are."

"Is Jasper…?"

"He is an invention, too. Not one of mine but I consider him family, especially since he and Bella are married though I'm still annoyed I wasn't invited to the wedding." I saw a small smile come from Jasper and I think he's happy to belong somewhere, even if he didn't seek it out.

"So, you're the only _human_?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh. Are there more?"

"Yes. Bella and Eli are the only ones I have created. There are a couple more scientists who have created others. Jasper was one of the other ones." She nodded in understanding.

"I think I need to lie down." She looked like she was able to faint, so Bella quickly grabbed her and brought her to the guest room, which will still hopefully be hers.

I stayed at Carmen's side while she slept. She looks so peaceful. I can't believe how well she has taken in everything today. She is such a strong woman. If she stays, I will be the luckiest man on earth.

She stirred after a couple hours and I started running my hand through her hair, although I don't know why. Perhaps it's instinct?

"Hi." We said it at the same time and then smiled at each other.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, still overwhelmed but somehow strangely ok. I just…" I cut her off with a kiss. I just couldn't help myself anymore. She started responding to my kiss after getting over the shock of my forwardness. After a few minutes, we pulled away to breathe. I looked at her to see if I offended her in any way. Nope, she's smiling and I'm sure there's a goofy expression on my face, too.

"Well, that was unexpected." I put my hand on her hip and stroked my thumb back and forth. It just felt so natural to be with her like this. I've never had a relationship on a romantic level that made me feel this way. Our chemistry is very strong. Perhaps this is how Bella and Jasper feel about each other?

"So…"

"So…" I smiled. Before I could say anything further, she cut to the chase. "I'm ready."

"What?"

"You know, Eleazar, for such a smarty pants, you'd think you'd catch on quicker!" I blushed and looked down. "Don't worry. I'm ready, meaning I'm ready to go get my things and move here."

My head almost snapped off as I looked up. "Really?" She nodded. "That's fantastic! What changed your mind?" I hope I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

"Well, your interaction with your 'children' is really why. There's so much love between you all, regardless of not being bound by blood. I'm not really sure what's inside them but they love you very much and you can't manufacture love. I have so many questions but I want to tell you that I'm ready to commit. I can feel this is right but I can't explain it."

"I completely understand."

"You do?" I nodded. She brought me in for a stronger kiss, more passionate than the previous. I can tell she is ready to go to the next step but I don't want to rush things. I slowly calmed down the kiss and just held her to my chest. I hope she can feel the level of devotion I already have for her.

Bella's POV

I went back to the lab after bringing Carmen to Papa's bedroom and then joined Jas & Eli back in the lab. "What do you think they're doing in there?" I asked.

"Bella, what do you think? What do two people do on a bed?" Jasper is seriously grossing me out.

"Are you suggesting my father is having sex? I am NOT going to visualize that and it's bad of you to even say it!"

Eli was quiet but decided now was the right time to interject. "Bella, Jasper is probably right." I turned and glared at him.

"Whatever." And, like the mature adult that I am, I stomped off to my bedroom. Thankfully, I didn't have to walk past Eleazar's bedroom to get to my own. Yuck.

I watched some TV. Rosalie told me I should watch some show named Glee and I have to admit, it is pretty good. Normally I don't bother with TV but this is cute. High school is annoyingly dramatic, no doubt about it.

I fell asleep after watching the first season. Jasper woke me up in the morning by giving me some feather light kisses on my neck, moving down to my shoulders. As nice as it is, "Jas, it's 5 A M. Why are you waking me _now_?"

"You're so gorgeous when you sleep. I couldn't resist." How do I say no to that?

Carmen opened the door and came in. "Bella!" Of course, we now have an official cockblocker.

"Yes, Carmen? How did you know I was awake?"

She blushed. "Um, Jasper told me to come in 5 minutes after him so that you wouldn't scream at me." I glared at him. He started getting me worked up and isn't going to finish? Is he fucking kidding me?

"Carmen, you're a wonderful person. But. Go away. And I mean that in the best way possible. Come back in three hours after I've ravaged my husband and punished him for taunting me."

She looked between us, back and forth. Those weren't hard instructions. Is she slow or something? Finally, she left and I turned to said husband. "You are a bad, bad boy." He smirked. Oh no, no way. "Hey Jasper, guess what I've been reading lately?" He tilted his head to the side in question. "Smut books. I found them online. And guess which kind are my favorites? I found one that has a woman dominating a man. What do you think of that?" He got this scared look. That's right baby, be fucking scared cause momma is pissed and horny.

"Ok, Carmen, I'm ready. What's going on?"

"We need to go to my house. To PACK!" After I processed what she said, I started squealing and jumping right with her.

"For real?"

"Yes!"

"Awesome!"

We left to go to her house. Jasper is still currently tied to the bed until further notice with some special ropes that Eli "leant" me. Hey, if more humanoids are created, maybe I should have a side business creating special strength D/S toys, since we're very sexual creatures. Well, except Alice. But technically I don't know what she does behind closed doors. I really should focus more. However, thinking about my sexual escapades with my husband reminded me of a conversation with Papa.

_Flashback_

_Jas and I had just finished trying out butt sex when I broke down. I really didn't think to talk to anyone about it but apparently, when Papa looked at my memories, he saw this. I found him crying in the lab and asked him what was going on._

"_Bella, I need to tell you something else about Isa."_

_Okay. I nodded._

"_When we were desperate for food and looking around, we separated this one time. It was a stupid thing to do, be separated, I mean and I regret it to this day. I found some half-eaten fruits and was so excited! However, when I looked for Isa to tell her, I found her rocking back and forth behind the dumpster we lived behind._

_I couldn't make sense of what she was saying, at first. But once I understood, my face paled and I lost my sanity. There were a group of Russian boys that found her and, well, they beat her. They also defiled her, multiple times. They knew if they turned her in after that, they would be reprimanded for not turning her in soon and for having sex with a Jew. Not for doing such a horrible thing!"_

_It's starting to make sense._

"_So, I tried to comfort her. She flinched in the beginning and went back to hysterically crying and rocking but knew we had to be strong, so she tried as hard as she could to forget about it. I can still hear her muted cries and see the stream of tears running down her cheeks as she had her night tremors. She was such a strong girl and never deserved that in a million years._

_So, you see, when you felt violated, I think part of Isa's experience was channeled into you. I don't know how, but that's my theory. It's still possible she is with you in spirit."_

_End Flashback_

Back to Carmen and her house. I never took the time to look around her house initially, so I made myself at home and gave myself a quick tour. My speed really helped for this. It looked to be about 3000 square feet? It's a nice two story colonial with three bedrooms; a master, kid's bedroom and a study. The main level has two bedrooms, study, kitchen and a laundry room. The study is amazing; it has a ton of books just itching to be read. I wonder how many, if any, we can bring. Eleazar has a huge collection on books in electronic form but sometimes it's just nice to hold it in my hand and read at a chosen speed, not necessarily whip through it.

The study has oak furniture and shelving along cream colored walls. The wood has detailed carvings and I can only assume it was hand crafted just for her. I wonder who did it? Maybe her late husband? I heard her come up behind me. "Beautiful, isn't it? It's my favorite room in the house." I nodded. Well, looks like we have that in common. I had to laugh when I saw a framed pictured of dogs playing poker. Classic.

Her master bedroom rocks. She has one of those super comfy mattresses that are just begging to be jumped on (yes, I did). I'm 90% sure she didn't see or hear that. The same beautiful wood motif was here, too.

I decided it is none of my business what the kid's room looks like. I won't ever be able to have kids and it'll just make me sad. My own room, growing up, was hardly decorated. It was actually quite plain. Too bad I didn't know Carmen, she could've totally helped me with that.

I noticed a basement but I didn't bother going down there. Really, I'm sure that's just some storage or whatever. She seems like a clean person but who knows what's crawling down there! I have an irrational fear of cobwebs but not of spiders. Go figure.

Once I got done with the tour, she told me the various things she wants to take. We packed up some clothes, although I told her it's completely not necessary. She grabbed her toothbrush & toothpaste (again, not necessary). Wait until she sees the bathroom inventions! We grabbed her jewelry and a box of mementos. I didn't look in it; that's just too private.

While she was finishing up the rest of what she wanted to bring, I took the time to call Carlisle because he's gotta be shitting bricks by now. I feel bad I haven't called him sooner. So, I told him we're ok and who we're with. I couldn't give him a location or ETA of when we'll come back. I'm still annoyed he wasn't more forthcoming but I don't want to hold a grudge, so I'm going to work that out and talk to Jas. He wished me well and said he hopes to see us sooner rather than later.

Finally, we were all set. I grabbed all the boxes and brought them to the car. We drove home in a comfortable silence.

Surprisingly, Carmen took in all of the "domestic inventions" pretty well. She kept an open mind and Eleazar had a great time explaining, in simple terms, what everything does and how she can operate it. She's been here a week now and is so far blending in well. Papa is thrilled and I've never seen him so happy!

I took this valuable time and split it between the other boys. I had some bonding time with Eli, who turns out to be great at bowling and Jas still kicked our asses at poker.

Eli and I started having fun pranking the others. See, this is what siblings are meant to do. Every time we'd do something, they'd get pissed but then laugh. I tried to make sure it never went too far. However, putting tar on Eleazar's wheelchair seat and putting mint flavored sauerkraut in the toothpaste did not go over well and we got reprimanded. They didn't appreciate the sour gummy worms that we melted into the shampoo. So, no pranks for at least a year. Which sucks ass. I guess we won't be able to do the timed feather ticklers at night. Damnit, that was such a great invention!

Eli finally confessed the "invention" he proposed to Carmen was totally fake and apologized profusely. He had to polish and organize all of her shoes for that one. She and Eleazar came up with a compromise to visit her daughter but has to take one of us humanoids with her. Everyone was placated at that point. The first time she went to visit her, they had lunch at the restaurant she owns and caught up. I was originally going to just keep watch at another table but Carmen made me sit with her and listen to their nonsense about how small dorms are and she needs a bigger apartment because apparently, she and her boyfriend want to move in together. All I could hear after 10 minutes was blah, blah, blah. I'd rather be reading that dom/sub book, hands down. Or still trying to figure out what's in that shrimp sauce from the hibachi side of the restaurant.

Although, I have to admit, her daughter was very nice but quite overwhelmed at life. Being a mother has never been an option to me once I found out what I really am. I mean, _who_ I really am. But, I can't help but wonder what I could've brought into this world should I so choose. Oh, didn't I mention this? Yep, she's pregnant. By the looks of it, she doesn't know and I sure as hell am not going to tell Carmen. That can be their own private drama, no need for me to get involved. I got my own crazy stuff to deal with.

Speaking of which, Papa thought it was time to "upgrade" me. Now, I'm fairly intelligent but his programming is out of this world. It has been taking me a while to learn his coding style and methods and I still get so frustrated. Oh yeah, he definitely has a method to his madness. Get it, madness? As in Frankenstein? Never mind. Eli has been studying it far longer so he totally gets it.

So, here I sit, coming out of my thoughts as he verifies all will go well with the upload. I have to admit, it's a little scary because he hasn't told me what he's upgrading but has cleared it with Eli, which I'm ok with. Apparently he's excited about the "surprise." Whatever. Let's get this party started. I laid my head on the table just as I saw Carmen walking in.

And…cue the blackness.

Eli's POV

My sister has got to be one of the biggest pains in the ass, although she'd seriously prank me if she ever heard me say that. Luckily she's "under" right now so no mind reading ability. No matter what, though, she's the best sister I could ever ask for. She answers all my questions and is brutally honest. She tells me stories of her experiences growing up, although I think she edits a lot. Especially when she talks about her friend, Angela.

Papa has some really great plans for her. I looked at his programming and she is going to flip when she realizes what she can do! He's the most amazing father a kid could ask for. I'm pretty smart for my age, that's just how I was built but he sets a great example and is my hero. He's the best role model I could've ever asked for and I'm not trying to be cheesy. Yep, I learned that word from Bella.

I was brought out from my thoughts as Papa put her chip back in. She slowly came to and a big freaking physical floating bubble was around her immediately, which scared all of us. Now, I was in favor of telling her what her new abilities would be beforehand but nooooo, it just had to be a surprise. I chuckled internally as Carmen backed herself up into a corner on the opposite side of the room out of shock and fear.

"What is going on?" she screeched.

Jasper gulped and took a hold of the situation immediately. "Bella, Bella. Calm down, honey. Take the bubble down."

"How!" I don't think her calming down is in the forecast for today. Yeah, this is definitely going to take some practice.

"Bella, relax. Go into meditation mode, darlin', and go to the meadow. You know which one I'm talkin' about." Thank goodness for Jasper. We'd be SOL without him. He is what grounds her, hands down. I wonder if I'll ever meet someone and have that strong of a bond. Would it be limited to another humanoid? Bella told me about Rosalie & Emmett, how he is human. Perhaps I'm not as limited as I thought? I suppose it's too early to even think about. I'm only 11 years old.

I saw her close her eyes, slowly glide down to the cot and the bubble dissipated. Wow. I wonder how she will be able to control that if Jasper's not around?

Papa turned to me. "Eli, you see how your sister is getting upgrades?" I nodded. "We have to wait until you've grown to your adult size in order to maximize your potential. While you are incredibly intelligent, you have to finish "growing up." Do you understand? This has more to do with your emotional growth than actual physical size. Although you're pretty bright for a 10 year old."

"Yes, Papa, and I'm ok with that."

"Good. I am going to make one modification though. We can do that tomorrow, if you'd like. Jasper is getting an upgrade after we settle Bella down." I nodded. I wonder what he has planned for me?

"Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on with me?" Bella looks really scared. And pissed. I decided to see if she'll listen to me.

I slowly took a step toward her. "Bella, I looked at the programming. Would you like me to tell you what your upgrades are?" She nodded. "Well, you have the power to control matter. Basically, anything you concentrate on will happen. You can control any aspect of your life and everyone else's, whether it's the weather, manipulating objects solid or liquid. You can basically do anything, short of physical manipulation of yourself or other humanoids and time control but I think Papa's working on that. You are, in fact, the most powerful humanoid to exist."

Her eyes bugged out. Really wide. "Are you serious?" I nodded. "How do I control that?"

"Well, you have to concentrate on using your brain and control your emotions because they will interfere with your ability greatly. For example, if you get angry while wanting it to be a nice summer day, you could make it storm instead. You must stay in control of your logic at all times."

Jasper slowly walked toward her and finally wrapped his arms around her. "Darlin', I can help you with your emotions and keep you grounded. Ok?" His southern drawl makes me laugh; I'm not used to it at all. Even though I 'grew up' in Phoenix, I've rarely seen the outside but that's ok because it's really great to be here. It's not a small place and I get to do what I enjoy – creating and playing with inventions.

"Bella? You also no longer will feel the need to sleep or eat. You can will yourself to do them but you won't ever feel sleepy or hungry again. Your growth schedule has been stopped, so your skin will not wrinkle or sag. We can still make you taller, if you'd like. Your height to weight ratio is balanced right now but we can always make adjustments. Oh, and per Jasper's request, you will still have the focus glitch, meaning you sometimes have to work to keep focus. We wanted to remove that but he said no."

"Also, I've uploaded the knowledge of the humanoid programming," Papa added.

"How on earth did you guys _do_ this? It's amazing! You guys are the best!" she said. Jasper agreed with her. It felt good knowing she's happy about it. Papa was just beaming with pride.

Papa turned to him and said, "Alright Jasper, your turn." Jasper's eyes widened and I thought he would decline but I think curiosity won him over, seeing what Bella is capable of.

"Alright, let's do it." He went to the table and laid down. Bella held his hand while Papa removed the chip. He'd previously studied Jasper's programming and he got pretty upset though he wouldn't tell me why. I think Maria, his creator, didn't program him well or something?

Eleazar's POV

It's time to undo all of the junk Maria put into his programming and let him be free of her, once and for all. She weighed him down with so many control mechanisms, it's a wonder that boy knew how to walk alone! I could see gaps in his timeline, so she must have been using him at will and not have had him "on" all the time. I am so glad he came with Bella.

We repeated the process with Jasper. He had come to me while Bella went with Carmen to pack and told me that I can upgrade his programming and that he trusts me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked and it made my heart swell to have gained his trust.

I could see Carmen out of the corner of my eye but made sure she didn't notice me watching her. I wanted to make sure she didn't freak out, as Bella puts it.

I put the chip back in Jasper and he slowly opened his eyes. It worked. I can feel his confusion already.

"What did you do to me?" he asked.

"Well, Jasper, you are now free of all of Maria's controls. You don't need to eat or sleep, either; it'll be your choice. You also have the power of emotions." He raised his eyebrow at me and tilted his head to the side. "That means you can push any emotions you want at someone. Right now I can feel your confusion and curiosity pushing at me. This will most definitely help keep Bella calm."

"Oh."

Bella looked at him with such a loving gaze and kissed him gently. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I gotta get used to this and try it out." Looks like that worked out just fine. I wish I could've done more but a) I don't know Jasper as well as I'd like and b) unless I wipe him and start from scratch, some of Maria's basic programming doesn't allow me to make much more in changes. Plus Bella will be really mad if I really wiped his programming and memory clean. I've already seen her wrath. No thanks.

_The next day…_

Eli's POV

"Eli, are you ready?" Papa asked me. We were alone in the lab while the others were preoccupied.

"Yes, Papa." He removed my chip. Sometime later, I woke up feeling quite refreshed. "So, what are my differences?"

"Eli, you know how you were able to read thoughts and talk to people silently?" I nodded. "Well, now you can be a shield as well. Your sister may not always be able to help you, so this is important."

"Thank you, Papa. For everything." He smiled and I gave him a big hug.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**


	21. Chapter 19: Coming Together

**Chapter 19: Coming Together**

Bella's POV

"Papa, I was thinking…"

"Bella, sometimes, I worry when you do that." He winked at me playfully.

"Well, I think we should contact Carlisle or maybe even visit him?"

"I will do no such thing. If you want to go visit, you may. I do not feel safe up there and really, it hurts me to think something may happen to you but, at the same time, you are a grown adult. I just worry, just like any other parent and will until the day I die."

I do not like thinking of his inevitable death. I constantly wonder if he'll upload and become a humanoid like us but he hasn't given me a definite. I think the answer will depend on Carmen and we haven't even approached her on the possibility. Yep, that'll be an interesting conversation. How do you ask, 'so Carmen, want to live forever?' Uh, yeah. Although I did find out, accidentally of course, that he uploads his memories once a week. He's nothing if not prepared, that's for sure.

"Ok, Jasper and I have been here a few months and I'm sure Carlisle is worried and misses us. Are you sure I can't convince you to come?"

He looked torn. He knew it would set a good example for Eli but he doesn't want to risk him or Carmen. It's easier to let me go because I'll have Jasper, my powers and I've already been on the outside.

"Bella…I…," he hesitated.

"It's ok, Papa. Jasper and I will leave tomorrow. If you change your mind, let me know. Ok?" He nodded.

Later on, I let Jas know I'd like to go back to Alaska to visit. He was surprised because I hadn't brought that up ever since we arrived but said he'll go if I want. I told him I want to come back here, though, at the end of the visit. While it is like a city there, I'm still wary of Carlisle and I like him as a person but I just can't bring myself to fully trust him.

I called Carlisle and let him know we'll come to visit in a few days and to say he was happy would be an understatement.

Miraculously, Papa decided we'll all go. He said there was strength in numbers, whatever he meant by that I don't know. We decided to have a fun road trip on the way. We'll have to drive straight through but it should be fine since Jas and I didn't need to sleep anymore, courtesy of our upgrades. I wonder when the last time Papa actually left the compound for any length of time was.

Jas and I mapped out different tourist destinations to stop along the way. Not too many but enough to enjoy our time together. We started with the Grand Canyon and had to make a stop at Jasper National Park right after we passed Calgary. Jas just rolled his eyes but I took a butt load of pictures.

No offense to Carmen, but she is just not any good at making up car ride activities. Nobody wanted to do 99 bottles of beer on the wall but they amended it to 1000 because the drive was so freaking long. Ugh. Don't get me started.

Eli, however, pleasantly surprised me. Apparently he googled car ride games and came up with a ton that he just memorized. Smart boy. Papa got frustrated at trying to blow bigger bubbles and told us we cheated and gave him crappy gum. Seriously?

The license plate game got old pretty fast and counting cows seemed stupid to me so we played sing and guess. Jas was sneaky and made up his own songs. It took the three of them about 15 minutes to understand he was just pulling their leg and he really _didn't_ have an incredible musical repository of information. However, he actually does and it just quite humble about it.

We ended up playing buggy, Jeep and Prius. Whoever spotted the most of these types of cars wins. Take a wild guess who won. When does that man lose at anything?

I'll tell you.

Never.

We eventually got to Carlisle's compound in Alaska and we all took a deep breath. This is it.

We slowly got out of the car and met Edward at the gate. He did a digital scan of all of us, just as a precautionary measure. I understood that it's not anything personal against us. It has been a few months, after all, since Jas and I left. Now that I think about it, I hadn't had Eli re-enable our homing devices. Oops.

Once we were cleared, we went to the conference room I was all too familiar with. Carlisle came in and his eyes widened when he saw all of us. Apparently he was…busy with Esme and wasn't there to find out how many people arrived.

"Well, this is a fantastic surprise!" He went over and hugged Papa. I don't think I've ever seen him get so emotional.

After getting some pleasantries out of the way, we were guided to our rooms. Jas and I settled back into the one we'd been in and it hadn't been changed at all. I wonder if anyone has been in here?

Jasper decided to take a hot shower while I settled our stuff in. Eli's latest invention was our clothing. Carlisle's compound doesn't have the amazingly insane closeting system at Papa's, so we were given 'blanks.' And what are 'blanks,' you ask? Here's the cool part. He gave us transparent shirt, pants, and, for my benefit, a dress. All I have to do is say the color and style and the clothing sets. These blanks are programmed to only allow said owner's voice to change them, which is good because I'm almost positive Jas will make mine transparent whenever possible. Eli even did it for our shoes, too. I doubt my imagination will be anything like Eli's. He is just fucking amazing.

A knock on the door shook my out of my thoughts. It literally shook me because it was so freaking loud. Before I could even say hello, my eyes widened.

"Bitch, where the hell have you been?"

It's nice to see you, too, Ro.

I caught her up on everything that had happened from when we left up to now. She understood the need for secrecy but was pissed I hadn't called or emailed while we were at Papa's. I felt so guilty; she is right. I apologized profusely and told her I would try my hardest to make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm pretty sure she would squash me somehow and I really don't want to invite the wrath of Rosalie. It's just a stupid move.

She and Em came to an agreement while we were away. He decided she is too important to possibly not find in his next life so he is going to ask Carlisle to change him. When? Not even Em knows. Can you say pro-cra-sti-na-tor? I can tell Ro is a little hurt he hasn't asked Carlisle yet but there's really nothing I can say that'll make any of this better until Em gets off his ass and makes his woman happy.

I don't know why I have this irrational fear of letting anyone other than Papa make changes to a humanoid. I want to scream and have Papa make the change in Em but Carlisle is smart and experienced enough to do it himself. Right?

Just then, Jas came out of the shower and walked up to me to give me a kiss. He hadn't noticed Ro and almost dropped his towel. Shit, he looked so delicious in just a towel. Will I ever get my fill? Nope, probably not. Of course, it didn't take him long to see and 'feel' her emotions, so he got this funny embarrassed look on his face and rushed to the bedroom.

"Uh, Bella, that was more than I ever want to see Jas in. Um, have fun."

"Ok, Ro. Say hi to Em and maybe we should hang out tonight?"

"Ok, let's meet at the Post to see what's going on tonight at 8."

"Ok, see ya then."

I turned around after wishing her well and attacked my husband, who was just finishing getting dressed. It should be illegal for him to be covered up.

He didn't push me away. As if!

We were only 5 minutes late to meet RoMet at the Post. Jas and I had an amazing day just the two of us. We played…lots of games and stuff. You don't need a play by play but it was great.

Fucking fantastic, really.

Oh yeah, you may be wondering what the Post is. Well, it's kind of like a Post Office but it has all of the happenings at the compound listed on it. Very cool way for everyone to know what's going on and choose what they want to do.

Luckily, RoMet weren't there yet so we checked out what was going on tonight. 80's night at the dance bar, mime theater, hmm…

"Jas! Look!" I can't believe it!

"What is it, darlin'?" I suppose I should tell him, it's not like he can read my mind unless I push my thoughts to him. Hmm, we haven't done that in a while.

_Jas, look at the movie tonight!_

He looked shocked I was using my telepathy but was anxious to see what I was excited about.

"Are you serious? The Princess Bride?"

He doesn't think I'm serious?

"What are you talking about," asked Rosalie. How did I not see or hear them coming?

"TPB is playing tonight!" She looked at me and we started jumping up and down together. Now, there aren't that many chick flicks I like and even less that Ro likes but TPB is just fucking _classic_. The guys rolled their eyes and we went to go see Wesley and Buttercup find themselves with their true love.

That night, I decided not to sleep, although Jas wanted to rest up so he disappeared into the bedroom. I hadn't talked to Papa or Eli or Carmen since we arrived and felt really guilty about it. I'm such a shitty daughter & sister.

I made a search field on the wall (think of a crystal ball only projector style) and found Eli in his room, watching TV. Since Jas was asleep, I decided to pay a visit to my little brother.

"_Hey Eli, can I come in?"_

"Bella?" He hugged me and led me into his living room, which was a small area of two armchairs and a plasma LCD.

"_Yeah, it's me. Sorry I haven't been around much since yesterday."_

"Oh, that's ok. I know you wanted to catch up with your friends and stuff."

Could this kid be any more awesome? "_Eli, you are so freaking fantastic. So, what do you think of the place?_

This time he decided to speak to me telepathically, so I let my shield down. "_I met a girl?"_ Was that a question or a statement?

"_Does she have a name?"_ I teased.

He looked at me with embarrassment. I could tell he would be bright red if he let himself be.

"_I don't know it yet. I saw her at the atrium while I was walking around earlier."_

"_Well, maybe I can help. What does she look like?"_

"_Um, I'll show you."_ I didn't understand at first since he didn't get up off his armchair but instead sent me an image of her telepathically. You'd think I'd be smart enough to have understood this right away. In any case, she was very pretty. Short black hair, blue gray eyes and small in stature. He thought she wore some strange clothes but that they're probably just the style these days.

Wait, that's not…oh hell. Yes, yes it is.

"_Yes, Eli, I know her."_

"_Really? Tell me everything!"_

"_Um, well, for starters, her name is Alice."_

Eli got really excited about her and, I found out from Ro the next day that she wasn't dating anyone. From the time I had somewhat gotten to know her, she seemed like a decent person so Eli decided he would ask Papa to speed up the aging process and get to her age from Papa before he introduced himself. Which was smart. I mean, what kid has a chance with a young adult? I'll miss him as a kid but I can't wait to see what he'll be like as an adult. He made me promise to introduce them once the change was made. I agreed. They both deserve to be happy.

Papa was not as thrilled. I think he secretly has an empty nester's anxiety issue but, at the same time, he has Carmen so he didn't fight him on it. Carlisle was gracious enough to let Papa use his equipment but I think it's more so an opportunity to watch Papa work.

So, here we are, three days later. Eli is bouncing up and down and I swear I'm going to staple him to the wall if he keeps it up. He had previously given Papa his desired measurements so he and Alice were sized compatibly, which I thought was kind enough of him to consider.

Since it takes a few hours for the body to change because it has to be chemically altered and that takes time. So, I waited with Jas at the lab. We played some card games. I lost. Miserably. One thing I like and dislike about Jas is that he wins. All the fucking time. He's very competitive but I like how he doesn't just let me win and, instead, it makes me try to win that much more. I'm pretty sure I'll never win but at least I know it's a fair game.

I figured I should be a good big sister and be there for Eli so Jas and I stayed in the lab during the whole process. Ok fine, I just really am excited to see what he looks like, too.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the Physapp opening up. I had to look away, since he was naked in there and fuck if I'm going to see my brother naked.

They got him dressed in his blanks that were already programmed with his preferred clothing style and said, "Ok Bella, you can look now."

I opened my eyes and he turned out so gorgeous. His jaw squared with some light brown stubble, cheeks permanently flushed and almond eyes with long lashes. His curly hair is parted on the side and falling into his eyes a little. He is now a head taller than me. Alice doesn't have a chance in saying no. As disturbing as this may sound, if he wasn't my brother and I wasn't married to Jas, I might've dug him.

I'm just _saying._

I walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Holy shit, Eli. You look fucking amazing!"

"You really think so?"

_No ding-dong, I'm lying._ "Of course I am! She will be…"

I was cut off by the door being slammed open and turned around to see what the hell happened. Cue…Alice.

She looks like a deer caught looking at headlights. At my brother.

Ew. Although, understandable.

I don't even want to think about what she's thinking and I _definitely_ don't want to read her mind. I can feel the lust rolling off of her and I don't even need Jas to tell me how strong it is.

I turned back to look at my brother but he seemed just as paralyzed as she is. Maybe this is some kind of fate?

Stranger shit has happened.

I waved my hand in front of his face and that seemed to snap him out of his trance. "I'll let you two be. Have fun!"

He looked panicked and begged me with his eyes not to leave him. "_Sorry kiddo, this is something you'll need to do on your own. Experience, remember?"_

He gave me the evil eye but I silently nodded at his understanding of why I had to leave. Jas and I walked out, saying hello to Alice but she was still in her trance and I really didn't have the heart to break her out of it.

Eli's POV

My sister ditched me. I don't even know what I look like now. Not like I'm vain but 30 seconds in front of the mirror would've been nice! Well, I'm sure I need to talk to Alice alone but I don't know how to talk to girls! The only girl I really know is Bella and she doesn't really count because she's my sister and any romantic thoughts about her would be just…

Ew.

I kept my mind shield up, just in case anyone here knows how to read minds. Bella told me to since Edward could and as soon as I came out of that contraption, I raised it again. I have no idea if Alice can read minds but I'm pretty sure I don't want her to know the thoughts swirling around in my head right now.

She is beautiful. I am so glad Bella wanted to come here to visit!

And then a thought came to me. What happens when we leave? Well, I can revisit that thought later. Much later.

"Um, hello?"

I was brought out of my thoughts by my Alice. My Alice? Yeah, _my__Alice. _"Yes?"

"Right. Well I keep having visions of you and I don't know why and it's just that you're so handsome and oh my God I didn't mean to blurt that out but oh hell I can't even stop the words from coming out right now and I clearly have verbal diarrhea! Who are you?"

I tilted my head to the side. She has visions? I had to laugh at her nervousness but couldn't because I was just as, if not more, nervous. "Um, well my name is Eli and Bella is my sister."

She gave me a look of understanding and I wondered if maybe she knew of me as a kid or what she thought of Bella. I decided to listen in.

_Hmm, Bella has a brother? Since when? And why is he looking at me like that? Oh hell I'm probably looking at him the same way! Why am I so flustered by him? I just met him and I feel the strangest attraction to him, yet I think it's more than an attraction. I'd probably freak him out if I told him I thought we were meant to be. Why is he looking at me like that – what is he thinking?_

Shit, I should've looked away or something but she's so pretty!

"Are you hungry? Would you like to go get a bite to eat?"

She smiled at me and nodded. Hey, maybe I can do this whole dating thing without stuttering nervously the whole time. I'll have to talk to Bella later to find out what their relationship is and everything she knows about Alice. She told me next to nothing.

_Flashback_

"_Um, well, for starters, her name is Alice."_

_And?_

"_She uh, is nice and, uh, you'll like her."_

_And?_

"_I don't really know much else about her."_

_I know she's lying but I won't push it. I need as much info as she's ready to give me and maybe she'll tell me everything else later._

_End Flashback_

Eleazar's POV

Carlisle and I have been catching up ever since I arrived. I've tried to make time for Carmen and Bella disappeared to who knows where so I'm not sure how to balance this whole trip. I can only be in one place at one time! Carmen has been so understanding, I am so glad to have her by my side. Figuratively.

I knew Eli's motivation for the age progression and I can't say I agree with it but I saw how much it meant to him and I can't fault him for falling in love. What he has for Alice is definitely not infatuation. Carlisle showed me her programming and it seems Eli and Alice are a lot alike. If they didn't have different creators, I'd say they were siblings but that would be, as Bella would say…Ew.

I'm a bit worried about them getting together. I don't think Eli has thought everything through. Where will they live? I don't even know if Bella and Jasper will be coming with us or staying here. Carmen and I will be going back to Phoenix and it'll break my heart if the kids stayed here. But, her daughter is there and so is her restaurant and everything else she's ever known and built her life around. But, would it be so bad to stay here too? I don't want to consider it, just quite yet. Carlisle will probably welcome us and we could do great things together, scientifically.

I didn't have to think about it for long, apparently.

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	22. Chapter 20: Can't You Just Stay Away?

**Chapter 20: Can't You Just Stay Away?**

**Carlisle's POV**

I need to tell him. He deserves to know. I really wish I had known he was coming. Part of me is excited because now we have a chance but the other part is someone may get hurt and that is just not…acceptable. Failure is not an option.

"Elle, I have to tell you something and I doubt you'll like it."

He cringed at my nickname. He hasn't heard it in over twenty years. Oh well. We have more pressing matters to address.

"What is it, Carlisle? You can tell me."

I hesitated, trying to figure out a way to get this out without angering the both of us. No, there's no way to sugarcoat it. "Well, the Volturi have been working on getting us back. They've made some requests…" More like demands, really. "They want all of us to come back. To Italy and bring the Humanoids with us."

"And what if we don't? Are they waging war on us?"

I dropped my head. "I'm afraid it'll be worse than that. They've threatened to spread an airborne virus to the humans if we don't."

"Oh." They know that Elle and I would do as much as we could for peace. He and I sat in silence while he thought about options. I had gone over this multiple times and spent hours trying to figure out a way about this.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Elle. He looked like he had an idea but was disturbed by it?

"Carlisle, I have an option but it's risky and I'll need as much information on them as possible. Their contacts, resources, where the virus is – everything."

"What is your option?"

"We make an army. We wipe their resources out and stop them. If need be, we'll have to destroy their labs. Normally I'm opposed to violence but they have gone too far. You can't threaten perfectly good, innocent people."

"I agree, but an army? Isn't that what they're looking for?"

"Well, do you suggest we use the humanoids we have or make more?"

"The problem is that we don't have time. I received the warning last week and was told I had to make a decision quickly, otherwise they will act. I have until the first of the month."

"That's in three days!"

I bowed my head and let out a deep breath. "I know."

"Well, then we use what we have and bring them to their fullest potential."

Oh, God.

He filled me in on what he did for Bella, as far as the upgrades, and I was very impressed. I wanted to ask _how_ he did it but didn't want to overstep my bounds. If he really wanted me to know, he'd offer.

At least now I know we definitely have a chance to stop the Volturi Brothers, once and for all.

It's time to hold a family meeting.

Bella's POV

Papa called Jas, Eli, Alice and I into the conference room. RoMet were already there with Carlisle, Esme, Edward and Carmen.

"What's up," I asked, breaking the silence. I saw the sad look on Papa's face and realized there's something very bad going on. I looked around the table and just _knew_ everyone had the same thought.

"We have a situation on our hands and we need the Humanoid team to pull together on this one. We don't have any other resources."

"For what?" Am I the only one really wanting to know?

They explained what the Volturi wanted and are threatening. Why can't we all just live in peace? First Maria and now this.

Apparently, I'm the key. Lucky me.

Jasper's POV

Oh hell no. I banged my fist on the table.

"Isn't there any other way?"

Eleazar looked at me and grimly said, "No. I wish there was but these people don't see talking it out or compromise as an option."

"Yeah!" We all looked to Emmett's way and he was…cheering? "We can do this! We've got all of the best people to handle it. Shit Bella alone could burn Italy down."

Ok, uh – NO. "Em, sit down. You're not going anywhere." His face paled as Rosalie put him in his place.

"Why not?"

"Did you happen to notice you're a human? You could die!"

"Rosie, I'll be ok…"

"No. And that's final."

We were all relieved when Emmett didn't argue with her. I'm almost positive he's cooking some kind of plan up.

"I will lead the team and we can do this. I need to know everything and I need to have as many resources as possible – modes of transportation, finances, you name it, I want it. If we do this, we do it my way." I've led fights for Maria and definitely know what I'm doing. If Bella wasn't a Humanoid with a fuckload of power, I wouldn't even consider bringing her. But, I love her and believe in her. Plus, I am deathly afraid of what'll happen to me if I ever tried to get in her way. Carlisle and Eleazar nodded their heads at me and we all began strategizing.

We broke at 3pm for a couple hours since we missed lunch and just needed some space.

Emmett didn't come back.

The next day, Bella and I made love in the morning. We decided to sleep just to relax but then, for some reason, the excitement of the fight made us horny. Strange, but true.

So, it was around 10am when we all got back to the conference room. I came back to the conference room last night while Bella and Eli practiced their powers on each other. She was teaching him fighting styles as much as possible and I could feel her fear of losing anyone, especially her brother.

Sometimes this power Eleazar gave me just sucks. But, it's nice to not be controlled. I've never felt more freer than I have since he changed my programming. I'm glad I put my faith in him and Eli. Who know where I'd be if Maria still had me under her control?

In any case, we were working through lunch (again!) and decided to take a break at 5 for dinner but then come back. Eleazar didn't have enough time to remove the whole sleeping and eating thing from every humanoid so we made do around it.

When we reconvened and came back into the conference room, our jaws dropped to the floor.

"Emmett?"

There sat Emmett. But it wasn't Emmett. Yet, it was. It was Emmett. The humanoid.

Holy, fuck.

Apparently Em got so mad after Rosalie denied him a fight. I guess he didn't want that.

"We buried human Emmett. You got me now!"

I laughed. It was nice to finally do so. The last two days have been tense and stressed. Everyone laughed with me. Rosalie just stared at him in disbelief. I tried to break her out of her trance but to no avail.

"Em?" she said.

"Yeah baby?"

"Get over here, you big lug! Why the fuck didn't you tell me? I was so worried when you stormed away from me yesterday!"

"You know why."

She hung her head in shame. She was trying to protect him and all he did was kill himself in order to help her instead. That's serious honor and strength right there.

"Oh check this out! Eleazar gave me super strength. So, while Bella can burn Italy down, I can throw it into the sea!"

Bella chuckled. "Em, no one is burning Italy down. But I don't doubt you being able to put the country into the ocean, no matter how out there that may be."

"Actually Bella, he's somewhat right. He had super strength and could lift a bridge and a train at the same time but a country? Nah, that's just an exaggeration. Just make sure to tell him not to do it, though," Eleazar added. I was floored. He is that strong? Holy shit.

We are so going to win. But, it's always bad to get overconfident. Who knows what they have over there? So far, Carlisle couldn't get any information for me on that.

Wait a fucking second.

"Papa, how did you get Emmett done so fast?"

"Ah, well normally I would've said no because there are mental preparations that need to be done but, seeing as we have time constraints, the sooner the better. I want to give you as much support as I can."

I am such a lucky bitch.

On the third day, Carlisle picked up the phone and called them on speaker.

"Thank you for calling the Volturi Brothers. How may I help you?" A pleasant voice answered.

"Hello, this is Carlisle Cullen and I need…."

"Oh! Yes, please hold."

Strange.

"Carlisle! What a pleasant surprise!" Apparently that's Aro. He's…colorful and quite cheerful.

"Yes, Aro, hello. I just wanted to let you know that I have to turn your request down. I am not sending any of my humanoids to you nor am I relocating to Italy."

"Oh that is a shame. Are you sure about this? You know what will happen based on this decision."

"Yes, Aro, I do. But, I will not be forced around anymore."

Good thing we were listening from our "home" in Italy. Carlisle has some fucking fast jets.

Jasper's POV

I tried to make sure our plan wasn't very simple or very complex. We need to cover all bases but not let anything get missed. So far, we've been working great as a team but I get the feeling Bella will go it alone if she feels a threat and wants to protect us. I'm really hoping she sticks to the plan.

Bella wanted to do the whole 'we'll just walk in and kick their ass' plan. I didn't see that working too well.

Since none of us needed sleep, we waited until everyone left the office for the day. Carlisle had given us the blueprints to the buildings and we spent an hour memorizing the facility. I just hope things haven't been moved around too much since. Although, humans are typically creatures of habit.

At around 10pm, we saw the last employee walk out. We know this because we did a heat scan on the building. I wish I could say there was an underground tunnel or we scaled the walls but nope, we found a window on the side of the building and just decided to break in that way.

Turns out, Edward is quite the hacker and was able to disable the security system and motion sensors remotely. I knew that boy was good for something.

He glared at me. Shit. Damn that mind reading power.

We thought about just killing the power to the building but that would've triggered an alarm, I'm sure, before hackward could've disabled it. Although he went one step further and locked down the Volturi houses' locks so no one would be able to get in or out. Of course, we waited until the garages were closed up and lights went off.

Bella melted the window glass down and then cooled the pane. Ain't nothing worse than a pair of burned pants down the middle.

We silently got inside and Bella disarmed the cameras. Even though Edward had the recording stopped, we didn't want to chance it being turned on again. Well, more like she melted them down. Damn, I love her.

We took the stairs to the 5th floor, since we didn't want to risk being trapped in an elevator. Since the security system was down, we didn't need any pass cards to go through each door. Granted Bella could've melted that too but we got other stuff to deal with and need as much time as possible. Who knows how long that Aro fuck is going to take before he does something stupid?

At the end of the hallway was a corner. However, that corner has a hidden door. We had Em take that down with his strength. He was able to do it without an noise at all.

Somehow this is all starting to seem too easy. I've got a bad feeling about this.

We walked down the corridor and came to a…game? It was like a complex Simon Says game. Alice came in handy here and "saw" the answer, so we were let in once she entered the 255 light combination.

"You know, you could've just knocked."

We were startled by the voice once we got past the game door.

Bella's POV

This shit just gets better and better. Not only did we have to go through a fuckload of doors and traps and security crap, now we have yet another thing?

We looked around the pitch black room but couldn't see where it was coming from. This is so fucking stupid. I feel like I'm playing games instead of getting my prize.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind came at us. I instantly put up my physical shield around us. I could see frost trying to stick on it. When the wind stopped, I was going to lower the shield but I looked at Jas and he shook his head no.

Good thing, too. Because a huge fire ball came at us. Damn I love my shield. We'd have been frozen on the inside and then burnt on the outside without it, just like those corn dog nuggets I used to make at Charlie's.

When the fire died down, I decided the keep the shield up, just in case. Who knows if there's going to be any thunder and lightning soon?

The lights came on and there were two…beings….in front of us. There was also a glass wall behind them. A man with a bright smile on his face was staring at us and then spoke into the microphone.

"Welcome! Well, sort of. I assume you've come to stop me and make the world all sunshine and rainbows?"

I had to laugh. That was just too fucking funny. Apparently I'm the only one that thought so. Shit. Including jovial-guy.

I looked over at Jas, who gave me a look like, "let me handle this." If there's one thing I've learned from him, it's to not get in his way when he's in fighter mode. It's just not pretty.

_Flashback_

_Sir was kicking our asses (Ang's and mine) during training. We were working in the pool today. He said that if we need to be able to protect ourselves in water because it's such a difficult obstacle. Can anyone say understatement?_

_I was wading through, trying to just fucking float and breathe (because at that time I didn't know I didn't have to breathe) because I'd always been afraid of the water and never learned to swim. I knew it would come back to bite me in the ass someday._

_Sir blew his whistle and got in the pool. He been having us do laps back and forth and I was failing the speed test miserably. I looked up and couldn't see him anywhere._

_I could, however, feel something grab my legs and pull me down. Before I could even think about taking a breath, Sir pulled me into the water and, even though I didn't want to, I opened my eyes and saw him keep me down there. Well, fuck that. I need to breathe!_

_I saw him turn to grab some rope (is he seriously going to drown me?) so I took my opportunity and kicked him where the sun don't shine and floated up and got to the edge of the pool before escaping onto the dry surface. I was heaving for dear life and Ang couldn't understand what the hell happened. I sure as fuck couldn't explain it._

_Apparently, he was getting ready to display something to her with me as a dummy and I kind of foiled his plans._

_I cleaned his whole bathroom with a toothpick instead of dinner that night._

_End Flashback_

Back to the present.

Jasper's POV

Bella's crazy sense of humor is just insane. How the hell could she find anything funny here?

"Oh do let me apologize," the guy behind the glass said. "I'm Aro." I initially wondered how he was able to stay in the building and not go home. I soon found out when I looked at what was around him behind the glass.

_Home._

He lived here. In a fucking office building. That's some crazy paranoia, although understandable if one is planning world disorder. I bet that room is sealed so that nothing can get in. No wonder our heat scans didn't work on him. However, it should've worked on these two goons in front of us.

Before I knew it, Bella put a physical shield around the two said goons. I think she sensed they were going to do something. She was right. As soon as she did that, fire came out of one of them. Ah, so that's where it came from.

Much to our disappointment, they didn't burn up. But, score one for us because they are immobile while her shield is around them.

"Well, done. I assume you're Bella?" he addressed her. She didn't answer in response and he looked irritated that we wouldn't be playing his games. The Simon Says shit was enough for me.

"Ok Aro, this is how it's going to be. You will be handing over the virus and turning yourself in."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's over. Your financial assets have been frozen and we have sent anonymous evidence to get you in jail for a few lifetimes. If you'd like, we could just fake your death and you could stay at Carlisle's compound in Alaska. There's a nice locked off jail there where no screams can be heard."

He gave us a sadistic smile and beckoned a child over. "I don't think so." She stared at me and I dropped to the ground right away, pain was coming at me in all angles. I couldn't look at Bella, she would release her shield from the goons and then where would we be?

Luckily, Eleazar is a fucking genius. Eli stepped in. Apparently Eleazar gave him a mental shield, so the pain was gone almost immediately.

The little girl frowned and concentrated. I could see her face almost glowing with hate.

"Aro, please calm your child down. This doesn't have to be difficult."

"Ah. No. She is my creation and she will protect me." He looked unsure and his voice cracked at the end. I doubt he knew about the possibility of more than one shield. Bella looked at Eli and I noticed they were speaking telepathically. What I wouldn't give right now to be in Bella's head.

Bella's POV

_Eli, keep your shield up around everyone. Demon-girl needs to go down so that we can rip ding-dong 1 & 2 apart without dealing with her shit. I'm going to keep my physical shield up until the last possible second and then have Em do his business like I know he's dying to do._

_Ok Bella, will do._

I moved closer to two frozen idiots and they watched my every move. With a turn of my finger, their heads came off and Aro's eyes widened. I smirked at him and lifted the shield. Emmett got right to work dismembering them.

If you didn't know any better, it looked like playtime to a kindergartner.

I moved forward toward Aro and his demon-girl. Good Aro, be scared. You should be.

Jas grabbed my arm and held me back. Fuck, of course he wants to stick to the plan. Me? I just want to see Aro in pain for a while.

I had Eli keep everyone under his mental shield so that I could use any of my powers without needing to multitask. I can do it, but why chance it?

In the middle of all of this, Rose stepped forward and cleared her voice. Smiling sweetly at Aro, she turned her face into a death glare at demon-girl. She pointed her finger at her and said, "You tried to hurt us. You put Jasper in pain. He's my brother. We're all family. And, that shit just don't fly with me." She knew Eli was protecting her mentally and honestly, I think giving her the opportunity to bring Aro down was a genius strategy on Jasper's part, given what she did to some other people who had tried to hurt her in the past. She won't talk about it, but I guess we all have skeletons in our closets.

I saw the outline of a door that apparently can be opened from the inside of the mini apartment he has going on in there. Seriously, who the fuck sleeps at work? On purpose?

"Hello, hello!" said Alice in a silly singing voice. Up until now, I hadn't noticed Alice being gone. Strange. Where the fuck had she gone? I haven't seen her since…that stupid light game from door # whatever the fuck it was.

She held up a vial and Aro's eyes were bulging out of his head. I could see the gears shifting in Jasper's head and Rosalie grabbed the vial from her.

"See this, Aro? This is the fruits of your labor. Only, it will be your demise. Because, unless Jasper tells me not to and saves your ass from me, you will be experiencing the very problem you intended on bringing onto others. Not very bright to have it in the same building, huh?"

He shook his head.

"Jasper? You want me to give him and girly-girl there a taste of his own medicine?" She smirked at the irony of her words.

Jas looked at me and I have to admit, it crossed my mind to just do it but the good part of me said to be thankful we were able to do it without too many problems and to hand him over to Papa and Carlisle.

Then, the other part of me told me he wouldn't have ever been humane and will do anything to plan world domination and revenge.

I looked at Jasper and knew he was thinking along the same lines. "Do it, Rose," I said. Jasper nodded.

I opened the door by melting the patch panel for security clearance (again more security!) and then created a gust of wind from in there toward us so none of us had to go near either of them.

"Say bye-bye and toodles!" Rose can be very, very scary. I am so glad she and I are on good terms. She tossed the vial into the apartment and I sent another gust of wind to close the door. I then expanded the door to be air tight so that air couldn't be let in or out. There's no escaping for them. We watched as I cracked open the vial behind the glass. A purple haze came out of it and I could see Aro holding his breath. Honestly, how long did he think he would hold it for?

Demon-girl didn't catch onto that little trick. She breathed it in and within seconds, she collapsed and started seizuring on the floor. Aro didn't last much longer, especially after he saw her go down.

Yeah, it's good to be over.

We won the battle and prevented the war.

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**Thanks for reading - we're getting close to the end but I won't tell you how close... ;)**


	23. Chapter 21: Epilogue

**Chapter 21: Epilogue**

**Bella's POV**

Life became calmer and better after the whole Aro and demon-girl ordeal. Edward "unlocked" the Volturi houses and the police arrested Caius and Marcus, the other Volturi brothers, immediately. Marcus pled guilty but made a deal for a lesser sentence if he testified against Caius. Apparently they're not as close as I thought. The law enforcement team were thrilled they were going to finish this ordeal. I guess they'd been gathering evidence for years but the Volturi have always managed to cover their asses. Peter & Charlotte, the prosecutors, couldn't thank us enough and we were just happy to help and get them out of the picture, once and for all. Nothing like a good 'ol ass whooping to brighten your day.

We stayed for about a month at Carlisle's before Papa and Carmen returned to Phoenix. He said he had a surprise for me and to stay at Carlisle's until he sends word for me to come.

I'll admit it, it hurt. Especially when he sent for Eli first after being gone for two months. I know he probably has good logic but that doesn't mean it's easy to deal with. Jas felt my sadness and tried to send me some happiness but I didn't need that. I just needed him to just hold me.

Yet, instead, I attacked him and we didn't really bother with sleeping that night. Or the next few afterwards. We may have even broken RoMet's sexcapades record. Ok, probably not.

We finally got word to come down to Phoenix 4 months later and I couldn't wait! I was so excited that I was jumping up and down for joy! It was like I channeled my inner-Alice.

Speaking of her, she's coming with us. Eli told her not to come until we do and I know it hurt her, too. He turned on his shield, so she couldn't see his future and not even I could tap into him telepathically. Apparently cell phones were the only instant communication we could use.

How the hell can people live like that? Oh right, I used to.

My bad.

It seems like so long ago that I was just a somewhat normal human being who was a college dropout/poor musician that couldn't foresee a future with a 5 year plan, let alone even a one year one.

We decided to make a road trip out of it. One, it's fun to take the scenic route and two, Alice packed a fuckload of clothes and shoes, even though we tried to explain the blanks and closeting system to her.

No go.

I don't know if she refused to believe it or just had more faith in her abilities than anything anyone else could create. Sorry babe, Eli is a fucking genius. Good luck with disproving that.

So, it took us a couple days because even though Jas and I didn't, Alice still ate and slept so we had to make stops other than gas. Apparently she had to have her beauty sleep.

When we finally got to Phoenix, we got lost. How? I'll tell you how. The restaurant was no longer there. Instead, it was a massive hotel and parking garage. The named it, appropriately, The Escape. I, at first, wondered if they sold the place and relocated. Nope. Apparently, Papa built out and up on the restaurant. He kept the place below it for us to all live in but this'll ensure no one buys space near us. Apparently they bought the whole block and are "living" in a hotel suite for when Carmen's daughter comes to visit.

They decided not to tell her just quite yet, until she gets comfortable with Papa being in Carmen's life first. Her daughter is still as annoying as fuck but she and I get along civilly, at least. Carmen is still undecided about the whole living forever deal, but she has started uploading her brain "just in case."

Um, yeah.

Also, Carmen's daughter is in her third trimester of her pregnancy. Yet another reason to take it slow and not tell her right away. Jasper says she's confused and hesitant whenever she's around us but I can't fault her for it. Her instincts are right, after all. Plus she's moody all the fucking time. I can't wait until her "pregnancy stupid" time comes around. I read about it, where pregnant women can't think straight toward the end of their pregnancy. Maybe I'll fuck with her mind a little or prank her.

Ok, maybe not.

After Papa and Carmen saw the sonogram pictures, I'm pretty sure they made up their minds about the whole living forever deal. But, I could be wrong and then I would be able to see the purple flying pigs out my window. He did end up teach Eli and I how to create a humanoid if they end up deciding to go on, before their human death. I'd rather they do it sooner rather than later, just in case.

The rest of us got our own suites, too, for show. I honestly preferred being in the compound below. The privacy and, ok, the closet is just so cool. I don't have to cook or clean. The only thing that it lacks is sunshine (even though the lighting is totally fine) and I'm sure if he could, Papa would somehow bring it down there. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it on his to-do list.

Eli and Alice became engaged a couple months later. It's funny how they're so in tune with each other that they don't need the whole dating saga to _know_ each other. I know Alice won't, but sometimes I have nightmares about pink taffeta coming back in style.

Edward and Sahar are taking things very slowly. Which, is good. He's insanely complex and has plenty of relationship issues. Plain and simple, he needs to get over me (even though there was never an "us") and focus on her. She deserves nothing less.

RoMet and Carlisle & Esme have suites in their honor when they come to visit. They have decided to stay in Alaska as their permanent home but RoMet travels frequently, so they make sure to stop in Phoenix every couple of months.

As for Jas and me, we are living it up. We travel but we stay either close to home or stay in constant communication (meaning, by phone or Eli's and mine telepathic link). Papa got a smartphone and is thrilled he didn't have to create it. However, he did modify its programming to make it more secure (like a 300% encryption boost) and get satellite TV channels. Don't ask, I have no idea how. But, now he has access to his email 24/7 in case I can't reach him by calling.

Yeah, he's just being a great dad.

It's times like these where I wish I could have children and not need to live vicariously through other parents. Now that I have my soul mate, it would be nice to spread the love. I suppose I could create mini Humanoids and raise them or help with Carmens' daughter's kid. But, I feel complete with him, regardless. He is my everything and I am his, as well.

* * *

**Too cheesy or no? I'm going to leave it here, unless I get questions or a request for an outtake. Thanks for reading!**


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